The Legend of Zelda: Pathways of the Ancestors
by allen.bair
Summary: The Stargate Atlantis team is drawn into Hyrule's eternal conflict when Princess Zelda is mysteriously brought through the Stargate to Atlantis on Earth. Contains crossover elements from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword; Stargate: SG-1 and Atlantis; Myst; and The Lord of the Rings. This is part one of my Ancestral Ring series.


The Legend of Zelda: Pathways of the Ancestors

by

Allen M. Bair

2012

Chapter 1 - Beginnings

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Link. It's a funny name, I know, but it wasn't given to him by accident, although few understood the reason. He was a skinny boy, about ten years old with reddish blond hair and blue eyes. He lived in a small village in Ordon, a province of the Kingdom of Hyrule, a country that doesn't exist in our world as we know it.

Link lived by himself in a treehouse. He couldn't remember his mother or his father, and no one in the village knew who they were either. Link was a baby delivered in a basket when he came to them. At first he had been raised by a kind, local village woman named Saria. Saria had no children of her own, and had never married, but when she saw the little baby she fell in love with him on first sight and took him for her own. The treehouse had been Saria's until she had taken ill the month before. It was the kind of illness that even the best medicines and soups the village in Ordon could acquire couldn't help.

"Only Fairy's Tears can help this." The village healer had said. "Fairy's Tears? Where do I get them?" Link had begged him anxiously. The healer sighed, and then reluctantly told him, "you don't, son. You have to be given them by a Great Fairy, and they don't give them to anyone except those whom they find worthy." The healer hated to dash his hopes, but he couldn't lie to him either.

"Where do I find a Great Fairy? I can prove myself worthy." Link told him so solemnly and seriously that the healer believed him without question.

"I've no doubt you can, Link. But the fountains of the Great Fairies are hidden, and no one living knows where they are now. The last Hylian to see and impress a Great Fairy was hundreds of years ago. It would take months, years perhaps to find one. Saria won't last the night. You'd better say your good-byes now."

The boy's hopes were dashed then and there. His mother, the only mother he'd known, had died from the wasting fever and he had watched it. "Mother," he had said, "I'm here, mother."

"Link?" She had opened her eyes. Her skin was red with the fever and hot to the touch.

"Yes, mother?" Link had said, sponging some water onto her forehead and dripping some onto her lips.

"Link, I have to go now." She told him.

"I don't want you to, mother." He told her. "I don't want you to leave me."

She looked at him with her violet eyes and said, "Oh my sweet, brave boy. It's time for me to go."

"But why, mother? Why must you go now?" His eyes were tearing up.

"No one gets to choose when he or she must leave this life for the next, Link. The goddesses have chosen for me, and I must submit to their will. This is not evil, it is just life." She told him. She had always been devout to the goddesses of Hyrule: Din, Nayru, and especially Farore.

"But what will I do without you?" Link asked her, the tears spilling from his eyes. "I'm scared. I don't know what to do."

"Oh my dear, sweet boy, you have a destiny greater than me. I've known that ever since the goddess Farore placed you in my care. Look at the birthmark on your hand." She told him.

Link took his glove off and looked at the mark on his left hand. His mother had always made him cover it up before. It was in the shape of three triangles, set together to make one whole triangle. She didn't want him showing it to anyone who came from outside of the village. In the village, only a few people knew about it and kept it quiet.

"What does my birthmark have to do with anything?" He asked, confused.

"Everything." She said solemnly. "You bear the mark of the gods, Link. You carry a Triforce within you. When you need it, you will have the courage, the power, and the wisdom to do great things that no one else could dream of doing. Remember that, my sweet Link. You are special, and one day all of Hyrule will depend on you." She coughed once, then twice. Flecks of blood formed on her lips. "I love you my Link, I will see you again. Walk with the gods..." And then she was gone.

That was a month ago. The whole village had mourned her passing. She had been dearly loved by all of them. The funeral pyre in the village square had burned for hours as he watched her body be consumed by the flames, releasing her spirit to continue its journey onward. Later he would swear that he had seen a green wisp of smoke, rise from her body in the barely perceptible form of a woman, blow him a kiss, and then vanish. "Good-bye mother." He had said with tears in his eyes. He took off his glove and touched the triangle on his hand. It made him feel better. It always made him feel braver.

And now he was alone. The other people in the village all gathered around him protectively. He had eaten supper at every dinner table in the village. He had been given offers to come live with almost every family. He appreciated every one of them, but he just couldn't do it. There was too much to understand. It was too soon. He needed to understand what her last words to him had meant.

The new sunlight outside poured through the open windows. The perfumed smell of the morning mist mingling with the herbs and grasses came wafting through. He sat on his bed looking around the simple treehouse that morning. I say simple because it was only one room. Saria had lived in it long before Link had come to her. It was special because it hadn't been built by cutting wood and hauling it up, but it had been grown from the tree itself by magic. Saria had never explained more than that. The walls, shelves lined with books, windows, and the door were all seamless with the living tree. So was the nook where she had laid him as a baby wrapped in blankets. A few pieces of furniture were places around the room. A table with a couple of chairs, two beds on opposite sides of the house, a big stuffed chair where Saria would read to him for hours. How he loved the stories of the knights of Hyrule long ago!

But the stories he loved the most were those about the Hero he had been named after. He was enraptured by these stories when he found out that he shared the same name as the Hero. These were the great legends of Hyrule. His mother said they were hidden legends that most people didn't know. The Hero was born about every two or three hundred years or so. Sometimes it would be longer, sometimes it would be sooner, but always when he was needed. When she would tell those stories he would imagine himself as the hero and his mind would fill with images of him slashing at monsters and riding from one end of Hyrule to the other. There were times he felt like he had actually been to those far off places and he could see them clearly in his mind's eye as though remembering them from yesterday. His mother had called the stories collectively the "Legend of Zelda." Link thought it would have been better named after the Hero, rather than the princess who always needed saving, but she was insistent about it.

"The princess is the most important person of the story," she would say.

"Why?" He asked. "The princess is always getting captured and the Hero does all the work rescuing her."

"That's true," she would giggle girlishly, "but there's a reason why the Demon King is always trying to capture her, and it's as old as the land of Hyrule itself." She would never explain more than that.

The house was quiet now. There would be no more stories from her. He could read the old books himself, but it wasn't the same. His mother's voice had given a life to them and had awakened things within him that just his reading alone couldn't. There was always something different about his mother's voice, everyone said so. When she spoke, there was always a power behind it that no one could place, and no one could deny. When she spoke sweetly and kindly, you could get lost in her words. When she gave a command, you moved to obey before your mind had time to react. He knew of no other woman like her, and was sure he wouldn't again. Her favorite color was green, and even her blond hair seemed tinged slightly emerald when caught in the light. The house was too quiet, and too empty now without her.

The village goat-herder had offered him a job helping him tend the goats, and in exchange he was teaching Link to ride a horse. Link had named her "Epona" after the Hero's mount, although she was still a pony. Perhaps they would both grow up to have adventures together just like the Hero.

He got up from the bed and went to the cabinet to take out some cheese and a loaf of bread from last night's dinner with the mayor and his daughter. His daughter, Ilia, was Link's age, and while they had always been friends she, more than anyone, seemed to understand what he had been going through with the loss of his mother. Her mother had died two years ago from the fever as well. He set the cheese and bread on a wooden plate on the table under the window and sat down to eat, watching the birds and small animals scurry around down on the ground as they went about their business.

"Where am I?" The ten year old girl thought to herself as she opened her eyes. She tried to sit up and found herself sliding back to the bed she had been lain on. Some people, adults dressed up in a funny way came rushing to her to help her gently lie back down. They were shouting to each other pointing at her, but she couldn't understand the words.

"Where am I?" She asked groggily. One of the adults, a woman with long, golden blond hair like she did, looked at her blankly and responded with gibberish. The girl became frightened, and it must have shown in her face because the woman standing over her sent the others away and sat down on a stool next to her and held her hand. That made the girl feel better.

The woman understood that the girl didn't know what she was saying, because the next thing she did was point at herself and say, "Jennifer." She then pointed at the girl and asked something. The girl understood, she pointed at herself and said, "Zelda." She probably should have said "Princess Zelda of the Royal Family of Hyrule," but looking at this woman and what surroundings she could see, Zelda doubted that it would be helpful. Everyone in Hyrule and its surrounding lands spoke Hylian. Everyone that would know who she was spoke Hylian. This woman didn't understand a word she said.

She tried to experiment with communicating with this woman who was trying to be kind to her and prayed to the goddess that she would understand. She pointed to the woman and repeated her word, "Jennifer." The woman nodded her head in affirmation and said "uh-huh," positively. She pointed at herself and said, "Zelda." She then pointed at the mark on her left hand, the seal of the Royal family and said "Princess Zelda." The woman seemed confused, but understood that it meant something important somehow. Good, she wasn't a witless person. Zelda knew many people in her household staff who were dear to her, but were completely incapable of solving even the simplest problems. She had the sense this woman would not be one of them. She then gestured to include the entire room, and then pointed straight at the floor, shrugged her shoulders and said "Where am I?" She hoped the woman would pick up on what she meant.

It took a minute for Jennifer to think about it, and then it looked like she understood. She also gestured around the room and said "Atlantis." She then pointed straight down and said, "Earth."

Zelda took time to process this information. She knew the names of every land in their world. Her father had ensured that she had been schooled in the geography and politics of their world. These were names she had never heard and sounded as alien as the gibberish the woman spoke. She looked at the woman carefully. She looked Hylian, except there was something different. She then realized what it was. Her ears were rounded off where they should have extended out to a point. Zelda brought her hand to her own ears. They were just as pointed as they had always been. She then, slowly reached out to touch Jennifer's ears which were exposed by her hair being pulled back into a pony-tail. The woman kindly let her, gibbering at her softly. She could feel no scars or obvious mutilations. These ears were natural. This woman was born this way. She then moved her eyes to some of the other people who were standing off in other parts of the room. They were of every color and size it seemed, although all looked basically Hylian except for their strange rounded ears. The room she was in was copper and gray colored with several beds in a row and what looked like mechanical devices and strange black mirrors and windows with bright colors and words all over the room and mounted to the walls. She saw no one else that she recognized, and no one who was like her in the room, and she couldn't ask how she got here. Or could she?

She thought for a moment how to frame her question so that the woman would understand, but couldn't think of any way to do it. She looked at the mark on her hand. The Triforce was the seal of the royal house, and that's all most people thought it meant, but she knew better. She had always known better, since before she could talk. She was the guardian of a sacred power, and she knew she could call on it, the Wisdom of Nayru, if she had the need. As she looked at the kindly woman in front of her, she realized that she had the need now. She closed her eyes and touched the triangle on her left hand with her right and prayed. She needed to know the speech of these people. The triangle glowed golden under her touch and the power flowed through her.

"What was that?" The woman said in surprise.

Zelda opened her eyes. She understood her perfectly. She then tested her new language. "Can you understand me now?"

"Yes!" Jennifer exclaimed in surprise. "How did you do that? What did you do?"

"It is an ancient magic of the Royal Family." She told her. "I need to know how I arrived here. How far are we from Hyrule? What happened to my royal bodyguards? Why am I the only Hylian here?"

"I don't know." Jennifer said taken aback with the new development and questions. "You came through the Stargate... um... the Ancestral Ring unconscious like you had been thrown. We still don't know how you made it through our iris shield."

"What is an Ancestral Ring? A Stargate?" Zelda asked.

"You don't know what a Stargate is?" Jennifer asked.

"No." Zelda responded.

"So then you wouldn't know the gate address you came from then, I take it?" She then said.

Zelda shook her head, "no. I don't know what that is."

"Well, you're still not completely better. I still don't know why you were unconscious, and there's some other people which will want to talk to you, Zelda. So for right now, you're going to have to stay put in the medical center and get better." Jennifer told her.

"Are you a healer?" Zelda asked.

"Yes, you could say that. Here I'm called a Doctor." She said.

"Thank you for your kindness Doctor Jennifer. I'm certain I can well compensate you for your trouble once I am able to return home." Zelda told her.

Jennifer smiled and said, "Let's worry about you getting better first, then we can talk about the bill." She then added, "Are you hungry?"

Zelda thought for a minute, then said, "Yes."

"I'll have a tray of food sent up. Once you're well rested, we talk more about where you're from and how to get you home, okay?" She said in a friendly way.

"Thank you, Doctor, I'm sure the food will be delightful." Zelda said.

Jennifer smiled, and then left Zelda to her thoughts.

Chapter 2 - Remembrances

He was just finishing his breakfast when he saw Rusl coming towards his house. Rusl was the village's swordmaster. It was Rusl who had the responsibility of teaching all the boys in the village how to handle a sword. He was a tall, muscular man with a slight mustache and beard. He usually wore a cheerful smile on his face when he came to see Link. Rusl had taken Link under his wing as a father figure since Link was very small, and he and Rusl's son Colin had grown up almost as brothers, though Link was several years older. Colin looked up to him. Rusl's wife had been almost a second mother to him. He loved them all dearly.

Link watched Rusl's face as he walked quickly up the hill to the treehouse. His usually confident smile was gone, and a look of concern and haste had replaced it. Something wasn't right, Link knew.

"Link!" Rusl called out with both hands cupped around his mouth. "Link are you up yet!" He was insistent. "Link I need you to come down as soon as you can! Link!"

"I'm here, Rusl!" Link called down through the open window. "I just ate! I'm coming down!" He yelled back. Link then quickly dressed in his green tunic and breeches and rushed to the door of the treehouse and down the ladder to meet Rusl on the ground.

"Link," Rusl began, "I need you to come with me to the mayor's house."

"What's wrong?" Link asked.

"Someone has come to the village. A sage has come. She's asked specifically for you, Link." Rusl told him.

"A Sage? Why is she asking for me?" Link asked.

"She didn't say. But the sages don't leave their temples lightly, son." Rusl said. "Link, if a sage has left her temple to come and see you, you don't keep her waiting." He put his arm around Link's shoulder and led him down the hill towards the rest of the village.

The walk was quieter than Link liked. Rusl would often speak with him, tell him of his own adventures when he was younger and a soldier in the Hylian army. He would talk of Castle Town, Eldin province, the Gorons and the Zora and all the wonders he had seen in his time away from Ordon. Link loved every minute of it. Rusl told no stories this time. The look on his face was grave and somber.

"What temple is this Sage from?" Link asked finally as they passed Rusl's house, almost to the Mayor's house. He knew of the sages from the stories his mother had read to him. He knew they remained in their temples scattered throughout Hyrule to guard the Sacred Realm with their prayers and songs.

"She is the Sage from the oldest of the temples deep in the Faron woods; the Temple of Time. She hasn't left her temple in living memory, Link."

"But then how does she eat? Doesn't she get lonely?" Link asked as only a ten year old boy can ask.

"The sages aren't like you and I, Link. No one knows or understands the sages but the sages." The swordmaster told him as they came up to the Mayor's door. Rusl didn't bother knocking but opened the door and led Link inside.

Sitting in the main room were the Mayor, the healer, and an old woman that Link had never seen before. They had been silent when he and Rusl had walked in. The old woman wore a red cloak which covered most of her body and hid most of her face in it's folds. She sat unmoving like stone in a plush chair. The mayor and the healer looked as if they didn't know what to say.

"Is this the boy?" She asked Rusl. There were no courtesies, no pleasantries, and no smiles.

"Yes." Rusl answered.

"Stand in front of me, boy." She said, and Link moved without a will of his own, looking up at Rusl for help. But Rusl had no help to give him.

"Let me see your hand, boy." She told him. He lifted his right hand and showed it to her. She batted it away and said, "Don't try my patience. Show me your left hand, boy." He brought up his left hand. "Remove the glove." She said. He obeyed hesitantly, and gave her his hand. She studied it carefully.

"How old are you, boy?" She asked him.

"Ten, ma'am." He responded.

She lifted an eyebrow at him, "Ma'am?" She said.

"The proper address for a sage is 'your grace,' Link." The mayor said.

"I'm sorry," Link said nervously. "Ten, your grace."

"Ten. So young. I had hoped he would be older. The Princess is ten now too, isn't she? Yes, they're always the same age, but there's nothing to do about it this time." The sage spoke more to herself than to anyone else.

"You will need your horse boy. We have a journey to make." The sage told Link.

Link looked first to Rusl and then to the Mayor for help, not knowing what to do.

Rusl then stepped forward and asked, "Where are you taking him, your grace, and when will he return?"

The Sage raised her eyebrows and looked up into his eyes, "I am not used to being questioned, swordmaster." She said coldly, her face set like stone.

Rusl stepped back a bit, but then held his ground. He folded his arms and stared her down. "I want to know where the boy is going, and when he will return, your grace."

The Sage held his gaze like stone. Then, her face softened. "I like you, swordmaster," she said, allowing a smile to cross her lips. "You remind me of someone a long time ago."

Rusl softened his own gaze as well, and then said, "Please, your grace. This boy is from our village. We all feel responsible for him."

She looked from the swordmaster to the faces of the mayor and the healer and could read in their eyes the truth of what he said. She let out a long low sigh, and for a moment every year she had lived could be read in her face, and the count was considerable.

"I have no answers to your questions, I'm sorry." She said. "I don't know the answers myself. If I could say the boy would be safely returned to you I would do so. But his fate doesn't lie with me." She looked at him tenderly now, almost grandmotherly. "I had hoped you would be older, but time is against us now. Once, we would have had all the time we needed, but this time is different. The cycle has been interrupted. Someone has interfered with the legend." She looked straight into his eyes as she said this last part.

"What cycle, your grace? What legend?" The mayor asked.

"The boy knows," she said, "don't you boy?" She looked in his eyes.

He nodded. "The legend of Zelda." The boy responded in a whisper.

"What's the legend of Zelda?" The Mayor responded. "Isn't Zelda the name of her highness, the Princess?" He asked Rusl. Rusl nodded in reply, but said nothing else.

"You know now why I've come, don't you, boy?" she asked. "You're the Link."

Link stepped back trying to take this in. He knew the stories. He knew what the Link in those stories did. He was terrified. He touched his finger to the triangle on his hand to make himself feel better, braver. As he did he mouthed silently a prayer, not to Farore, but to his mother hoping that she could hear him somewhere, "Mother, help me."

The triangle on his hand shone emerald, and a new courage took hold of him. In his minds eye, all the stories came back to him as memories which he could never have lived in his ten few years. He had seen Castle Town. Not once, but many many times. He had ridden the wind on the back of a great bird, and run through the twilight on four paws. He knew the darkness of the shadow temple, and the wonders of Skyloft, the ancient city in the sky which now only existed in legends and whispers. He knew love, and loss.

"Yes, boy." The old woman said. "You do know." She said this with a knowing look. "I can see it in your eyes. You're remembering."

Link nodded slowly. He tried to sort out his memories, but they were all beginning to fuse together. He was all of those heroes who had come before him, and yet he was still just the boy from the village.

"He will need a sword and a shield," the sage said, looking at Rusl, "a real sword and shield. Not those wooden sticks you practice with."

Rusl began to protest that he was too young, and then he looked at Link's face. The expression he carried was no longer that of a scared ten year old boy. There was something feral yet dutiful about it. It was the expression he saw on the faces of his fellow soldiers when they went into combat against bokoblin raiders knowing they might not come back again. Link was no longer just the boy he knew and cared for. This boy that now stood in front of him could split a man in two if he had to, and looked like he knew how it felt to do so.

"Alright." Rusl said.

"Fetch the boy's pony." The sage said.

"Epona doesn't belong to me," Link told her. "She belongs to the goat-herder."

The sage drew a pouch out and tossed it to the mayor. When he opened it, he found it was filled with rupees of every color. "Give this to the goat-herder as compensation for the horse. The boy must have her." The mayor nodded quickly. He had never seen so much money in his life.

"Now, let us go collect your horse and anything else you might need," she said eyeing Rusl, "we have a long journey ahead of us and I don't know how safe the woods are anymore." She stood up from her chair. Her frame was bent over, but Link could tell that at one time she had been a tall, powerfully built woman. A single braid of white hair swayed beneath her cloak.

"I know you." Link told her. He did, too. He recognized her now. The memory came back to him.

"Yes." She said as they walked through the door and up towards the ranch where the pony was kept. "That was many years, many lifetimes ago."

"Impa." He said.

She looked at him and nodded.

"It's worse than before, isn't it?" He asked. He didn't know what could be worse than the things his mind told him he had experienced lifetimes ago, but he knew that somehow it was.

She didn't answer. She didn't need to. He already knew. If Impa had left her place at the temple, then he had his answer.

"So, young lady, I understand you're feeling better." It wasn't a question that the balding man with spectacles said, Zelda understood. She looked him over quickly. He wasn't a particularly tall man. He wore the same uniform Doctor Jennifer did, and she was told he was in command of the city on Earth, Atlantis, she found herself in. His face told her he could be cunning and devious when he needed to be. She had known men like him in her father's court. She liked none of them. The difference with this man is that she also sensed that he would always try to do what he thought was the right thing, not just what suited him. That was good. She might be able to trust that. He was trying to be polite and friendly. She noted that he was awkward in doing so. It wasn't his strongest quality. This was a man more comfortable negotiating with no pretenses to courtesy; who could always find a way to strike a favorable deal. This would also be useful to her.

"Yes, thank you." She responded carefully. "Doctor Jennifer has been taking very good care of me."

He paused for a moment at the name, and then continued, "Yes, she's good at that."

They were talking in a room at the top of a high tower in the city. She had been allowed over the last day or so to see the surrounding ocean from a balcony and to stretch her legs by walking around a bit, always under the watchful eye of either Doctor Jennifer or one of the doctor's companions. Now, this person, a Mister Woolsey, wanted to speak with her in his office. Doctor Jennifer sat in a chair next to her to give support. She was thankful for it.

"I'd like to know more about where you are from and how you came to us. To say the least it was very unusual." Mr. Woolsey told her.

She considered his question carefully, and then decided it would only be an obstacle to keep things from him at this point. She needed information as much as he did, possibly more than he did.

"The last thing I remember was traveling with my retinue on an official visit to the Goron village in Eldin Province. We were still within Hyrule field. My retinue consisted of twenty knights and several courtiers. The Gorons are friendly to us, and there haven't been any bokoblin incursions for a hundred years. There was no reason to suspect we would be attacked. I grew drowsy in my carriage. The next thing I remember is waking up in your hospital with Doctor Jennifer." Zelda told him in earnest.

"I see." Mr. Woolsey said with some surprise. "Do you know what planet you are from, what your people call their world?"

"Our land has been called Hyrule since the beginning of our history. I don't understand the term 'planet'."

"So, you've never been anywhere else but Hyrule then? No other 'lands'?" He asked.

"No." She answered.

He started another line of questioning, "Doctor Jennifer tells me you are a Princess."

"Yes, my father is the King of Red Lions, Sovereign of Hyrule, and guardian of the Eight Temples." She did not mention the Triforce. That was a secret known only to a few regardless of it being the most important designation for the royal family.

The balding man leaned back in his chair pensive, calculating. "I see," was all he said. There was a look in his eyes that told her he didn't believe what she was saying, but he couldn't reconcile it with her sitting in front of him.

"May I ask you a question, Mr. Woolsey?" She asked him.

"Of course." He responded smiling warily.

"Do you find what I'm saying difficult to believe?" She had considered keeping her observation to herself. No, she decided. I need more information, and I need to know how much he knows if anything.

"Quite frankly, yes." He responded. "If you had come to me yesterday, this would have been simply one more first contact with an alien world. Well, perhaps not 'simple', but still."

"And why is that?" Doctor Jennifer spoke up, she had been quiet this entire time.

"This morning, I happened to have breakfast in the mess hall with Dr. Lee. He recently transferred from Stargate Command to the Atlantis base about a week ago. It turns out in his spare time he has a passion for video games, especially one called 'World of Warcraft.' This morning however he was regaling me with details of a game he started playing a few days ago which he obviously enjoyed. As it turns out there's an entire series of these games stretching back to the mid-nineteen-eighties. He had a magazine with a number of pictures from the game which he was looking through." He then leaned forward to look directly at Zelda. "The resemblance is uncanny." He said.

"What resemblance?" Doctor Jennifer asked next to her.

Zelda looked as intently at him as he did at her, studying his face. He knew something.

"Zelda, does the name 'Link' mean anything to you?"

That took her by surprise. "How do you know that name?"

"So you know the name?" He asked again.

"That name is a carefully guarded secret of the Hylian royal family, given to only one boy born in several centuries and always born in obscurity. I have yet to meet one of these boys." Zelda responded carefully. "I have only heard it in the old stories of the Legend."

"The Legend of Zelda." Mr. Woolsey said.

"Yes." She said.

"The pattern on your dress and the back of your hand, it's the Triforce isn't it?"

"What do you know of the Triforce?" She asked. He had caught her completely off of her guard.

"Not as much as Doctor Lee," he responded. "Perhaps we should call him up here. I'm sure he'd be thrilled to meet you." Mr. Woolsey responded. He then pressed a button on his desk and spoke into the air, "Have Doctor Lee report to my office immediately." A disembodied voice spoke back, "yes, sir."

They waited for a few minutes until a shorter, overweight man with a genial look on his face appeared in the doorway huffing and puffing as though he'd run and his body didn't know what to do with itself. He also wore spectacles and a long white coat.

"Yes, Mr. Woolsey? You wanted to see me?" He said, he then noticed Zelda sitting in the chair. "Oh, hey great costume! You look just like Princess Zelda! You know I just started playing the game myself and I've really started getting into it, although I've never really been into console systems like the Nintendo before. You know..." Mr. Woolsey cut him off.

"Doctor Lee. I would like you to meet Princess Zelda of the Kingdom of Hyrule." He said with all seriousness.

"What?" Doctor Lee said.

"She came through the gate yesterday morning unconscious and woke up in our medical center yesterday afternoon not being able to speak to us at all. She then touched the mark on her left hand and could speak fluently, although with a lovely accent." He added folding his hands in his lap. He smiled when he remarked on her accent.

"That's impossible." Doctor Lee said. "This has to be a joke. This is Doctor Keller's little sister, right? Dressed up for a costume party?"

Zelda stood up from her chair as gracefully as she could, and with a masterful voice that no one would expect from a ten year old girl she declared in her lovely accent, "I am Princess Zelda of the Sovereign Kingdom of Hyrule, daughter of the King of Red Lions, possessor of the Triforce of Wisdom and keeper of the Legend of Zelda. And I assure you, I am just as in the dark about this as you are." She then looked to Mr. Woolsey for a further explanation.

Mr. Woolsey massaged his temples, his head was obviously hurting as it tried to process everything.

"That's impossible." Doctor Lee said again. "Well, I mean I suppose it's not totally impossible given multiverse theory, and let's face it we've seen some pretty strange things that have been far stranger than this..." He started to ramble on.

"Are you saying that Zelda, this girl in front of us, is a character from a video game?" Doctor Jennifer asked.

"Well... yes. I mean I don't know about this girl, but Zelda's the princess who's been kidnapped by the Demon King who has to be rescued by the hero Link. It differs from game to game, but the hero always has to rescue her, and defeat the Demon King to keep him imprisoned so he doesn't ever get all pieces of the Triforce. In some games he already has the Triforce of Power, in others he doesn't. But the Princess always carries the Triforce of Wisdom, and Link always carries the Triforce of Courage." Doctor Lee rattled on, clearly unnerved and excited at the same time.

"Remind me again, it's been a long time since we've had a visit from someone from another reality. What does the multiverse theory say again?" Mr. Woolsey asked.

"Well, it says, essentially, that if a reality can exist then it does exist somewhere because the number of realities is infinite. As we know there are other Doctor Lees, other Doctor Kellers, and other Richard Woolseys. We've met some of our duplicates over the years. But this..." he gestured to Zelda. "We've never encountered this kind of thing before." He then added under his breath, "wow."

Zelda took all this in with silence, trying to process what she had heard. Mr. Woolsey then looked at her again, and she found Doctor Jennifer's eyes on her too. Doctor Lee was obviously deep in excited thought.

"It's begun again." She said quietly.

"What has begun?" Doctor Jennifer said.

"The Legend has begun again. The cycle is starting once more. The Demon King must have been unsealed somehow. But this is different. The Triforce, the whole Triforce, must remain within Hyrule or else our world will be thrown out of balance. Our world depends on it." She knew this was true, deep within herself. Something was very wrong. "This has never happened before." She finished.

"No. I'm sure not." Mr. Woolsey said. "It's a first for us as well." He then paused for a moment and said, "who is this Demon King?"

She responded, "It is an ancient evil god, whom the gods of light fought against and sealed away. He broke free of his prison and threatened to engulf all of Hyrule again. The very first hero, Link, fought him back and resealed him. The seal isn't perfect though. He is a powerful dark force, and he uses his power to possess people who crave power. And so every few hundred years, enough time for it to pass out of living memory, he rises again. When the good gods foresee this happening they cause the hero to be born again, hidden away from the rest of the world, and when it is time, the Hero rises up to undo the Demon King's designs and seal him away again."

"Until the next time." Mr. Woolsey said.

"Until the next time." Zelda confirmed.

"Wow, he almost sounds like an Ori." Doctor Lee interrupted.

Mr. Woolsey looked at him in surprise, and then, "yes. Yes he does indeed." Pensive again.

"I must return to Hyrule, Mr. Woolsey. If the cycle is starting again, the Triforce of Wisdom must be returned to restore the balance."

"I agree." Mr. Woolsey said. "We need to get you home. But in order to do that we need, at the least, a Stargate address to dial to. Without that, we're stuck."

"Mr. Woolsey, my land will destroy itself in foolishness without the Triforce of Wisdom." She protested. She then added, "Long ago, a tragedy occurred. My forebears were tricked into allowing the Demon King to gain possession of the Triforce of Power. The Demon King will not stop until he has possession of all the parts of the Triforce. If he can, he will come looking for me here. As long as I remain here with you, you and your world are in terrible danger. I must return."

"As I said, we need an address." Mr. Woolsey said, clearly in agreement with her.

"What does this address look like? I have seen many books and works which no one else in Hyrule has access to. Perhaps I do know it, and did not know what it was." She said.

"An address is usually seven symbols in a line or sequence, representing star constellations," Doctor Lee said. "Six symbols to identify the destination and then one symbol for the point of origin. Of course, we've known a couple of eight symbol addresses, and one nine symbol address because of how far away it is; but usually with another reality it's been a seven symbol address with some kind of extra tweak thrown in."

"Seven symbols." She repeated. "Show me what they look like," she said, regal authority dripping from her voice.

Chapter 3 - Meetings

Link had traveled with Impa for the better part of two days. The light chain mail that Rusl insisted he wore under his green tunic chafed a bit where his undergarments failed to protect his skin. The long green cap seemed a bit much, but Impa approved saying it suited him. They stopped to rest only once it became too dark to continue. In those two days, neither had said much to the other except what was necessary. He was glad for it. The memories which had been awakened in him were hard to sort out, as though he no longer knew who he was. He was a hundred different people, and yet he was none of them, but still just the boy who lost his mother a month ago. His arms and hands knew how to fight with a sword in ways that Rusl could only dream of, he was certain of it, but he also knew that he himself had never swung anything else but the wooden practice sword. The metal sword Rusl had equipped him with was the finest his village could produce. The ten year old boy within him was overjoyed to receive such a valuable gift. The person who had awakened within him pronounced it merely adequate for now, and he knew that there was only one blade which would suit him for his task.

They had reached the temple ruins before sunset on the third day. He knew them. Never having been there he recognized them for what they were. They had crumbled even further since the last time he remembered seeing them, but he knew that didn't matter. The roof and walls had collapsed centuries before even then, and he could feel that "his" last visit had been centuries ago. Only the doors stood pristine as the day they were fashioned. The doors set in hinges in a door frame that seemed completely useless and out of place when the rest of the temple was open and exposed to the elements. This too was deceptive, he knew very well.

Impa had let her horse graze in what should have been the sanctuary of the temple that the doors opened up on to. Link was going to allow Epona to do the same, but she stopped him, "No, boy. You will need your mount where you are going. I am certain of it."

He, Impa, and Epona found themselves standing in front of the seemingly useless doors. He looked at them thinking that something was missing. "There was a guardian here." He said.

"Very good. You remember." She said. "There is guardian when this temple needs one, but why would the temple need to guard itself from me?"

She stood facing the double doors, staring at them intently. She then pulled out a small harp and played six notes, and then three more. She did this twice. The melody was familiar to him, from a very long time ago, except for the last three notes. That didn't seem right. It seemed out of place. She replaced the harp into the folds of her red cloak and then waited. There wasn't long to wait.

The frame of the doorway glowed with a blue light as strange symbols emerged and then vanished around it. The doors creaked and cracked and slowly sung open towards them. A blue haze, like a brilliant pool of water engulfed the doorframe. Link had never seen anything like it. He couldn't see the other side, just the reflective pool of water. Link walked up to it and touched the surface of the water. It rippled gently beneath his touch.

Impa said nothing about it. She took one step, and then walked straight into the water, disappearing from sight. Link knew he was to follow. The memory of where he was, and of having done this before was strong. Of course, his memory of it wasn't a pleasant one. Then, he had come to collect a piece of a mirror and kill a demon. Somehow that prospect seemed less daunting. He didn't really know what await him now.

"Alright girl, I guess we go in too." He took Epona by the reins and walked forward into the water. Immediately stars exploded in front of him and he felt himself pulled across the vastness of space and time. Then, just as quickly as it began, it ended and he found himself leading Epona down a stone staircase into the center of a temple that looked newly built. Gold gleamed from alcoves and walls. It was beautiful beyond what he could ever know, and yet he knew that he had known it before, and it hadn't changed since then.

"Come, hero." Impa said to him, gesturing him down the stairs. Epona's hooves echoed through the chamber as they clip-clopped against the marble floors. "The others are waiting for us."

"The others?" Link asked.

"What has happened has disturbed the whole of Hyrule, past and present. I am not the only sage who has noticed. We are meeting here, where we can all discuss what has happened, and best advise you on what to do about it." She said as they walked forward towards another set of doors leading further into the temple.

"What I am to do about it?" He asked, thinking he misunderstood what she said.

"Yes, hero. We must stay and guard the temples. You and you alone can resolve this. This is the fate of the chosen hero of the gods." She answered him. Her voice was quiet, but in the silence of the temple, it rebounded off the walls and slammed into him with a thud.

She led him into the inner sanctum. It was a smaller room ringed in gold and marble. At the center of it stood a pedestal with a magnificent sword buried to the hilt in it. Around the pedestal was a gathering of people from every corner of Hyrule.

"Welcome hero of Hyrule." One among them said to the agreement of the rest.

Link bowed instinctively.

"You are younger now than we had hoped." Another said, this was a "Kokiri" he realized.

"I thought there were only eight sages," Link said, "for the eight temples."

"There are only ever eight sages at any one point in time, young hero, but time means nothing here in this place, and we need the wisdom of all the ages of Hyrule right now." A Zora spoke up.

"Why? What has happened that is so different?" He asked. The Legend was always more or less the same. The time and circumstances varied, but it always happened more or less the same.

"Tell him," this was an older Hylian man.

Impa spoke up. "The Princess is gone from our world, and with her the Triforce of Wisdom."

"Gone? Where has she gone?" Link questioned.

"We don't know." Impa responded.

"You don't know? You're the great sages of Hyrule from all the ages. You can't find her?" He said, raising his voice. He remembered lifetime after lifetime fighting to save Princess Zelda again and again, and they lost her completely?

"She is nowhere to be found in any time period of Hyrule. She is not in our world." A Goron said.

"What about Termina? Or the Twilight realm?" Link asked.

"We searched those places as well. They are still a part of Hyrule, and subject to her gods. She is nowhere that we can search." Impa said.

"Believe me, hero," a dragon said, "we've searched through all the worlds and times we can reach. She is nowhere among them."

"You must find her and bring her back, hero. You must recover the Triforce and the Princess who carries it." Impa told him.

"You remember who she is, do you not, hero?" Another woman, younger than Impa yet so much the same stepped forward.

Link thought back. It was an old memory, one of the oldest, from a time when Skyloft was still inhabited. It was from the beginning of Hyrule itself. Yes, he remembered. Just as he was reborn so was she, no less important than the first time she took Hylian form.

"Hylia." He whispered.

"Yes, hero. Hylia herself. If she and the Triforce of Wisdom are not returned to Hyrule our world will be thrown out of balance. Hyrule will destroy itself without Hylia to sustain it."

"What do I do? Where do I start?" Link asked.

The sages murmered among themselves. He could hear their low voices discussing what to say and what not to. Finally the younger woman like Impa answered him, "There are worlds older than Hyrule. Thousands of years ago, before even my time, the first Hylians came to this world from outside. You must begin there."

"How do I do that?" Link asked.

Impa touched the pedestal where the sword was embedded. A great ring rose in front of him and began to spin and light up. "I warn you, hero, once you pass through this portal, we can help you no longer. You will be beyond our protection. We don't know what will happen, and we don't know how you may return. You will have to find a way on your own."

"I understand." Link said.

"Before you go, you may have need of a Sacred treasure which I'm sure you'll recognize." The Goron said.

He looked at the sword in the pedestal. He moved towards it, but was blocked by the younger "Impa". "Not now, boy," she said forcefully. "The Master Sword still keeps the Demon King imprisoned. If you take it now, with the Triforce and Hylia gone, Hyrule's destruction is assured. You must retrieve her without it."

Link withdrew his hand and nodded. It seemed strange to go on without the Master Sword, it was out of place. But nothing about this was normal.

"No, but you will need this," Impa held out what looked like an amethyst magnifying glass set with a pinkish lens.

"This lens will reveal things for what they really are, and will allow you to read books which you couldn't otherwise. It may be more valuable to you than the Master Sword in your search." The old woman said.

Link nodded, then turned to the gateway that had opened up in front of him.

"Where does this portal lead?" Link asked.

"To a place where the first ancestors came from, that is all we know." The Goron said.

Once again Link found himself facing a brilliantly lit pool of water. He took Epona's reins tightly in his hand and plunged into it yet again. Every other time before, he knew, he had a good idea of what to expect when his time came. This time... he didn't even know if he could come back.

Zelda had been studying the symbols for hours without rest in an empty office. Doctor Lee was told to assist her because of his strangely acquired knowledge of her world. The sun was down and she realized it was quite late when Doctor Jennifer gently but firmly told her she needed to "take a break" as she put it. She could feel her eyelids drooping as she racked her brains trying to place their shapes against any script or symbols she had ever seen before. The doctor had led her to a small, sparsely furnished apartment in another part of the city where she was given some nightclothes to change into, and then collapsed on the bed.

"Dr. Keller, please report to the briefing room." Mr. Woolsey's voice came through her earpiece. "I'm on my way," she said wearily.

When she arrived, Mr. Woolsey and Dr. Lee were sitting waiting for her, along with Rodney, the chief scientist on Atlantis, and Colonel Shepherd, the military commander. It was getting later at night, and there was fresh coffee on the wooden table.

"Dr. Keller, have a seat please, Dr. Lee and I have just been bringing Dr. McKay and Colonel Shepherd up to speed on our little Princess." Mr. Woolsey said. The unbelieving looks on their faces bore him out.

"So, Dr. Keller, what do you think of our... royal charge?" Mr. Woolsey asked.

"She's friendly enough, but she's like no ten year old I've ever met. She's hardworking, serious, devoted to her duty, and far more mature than most people I've ever met." Jennifer responded.

Mr. Woolsey nodded. "Alright, now that we're all here, we need to decide what is the best course of action regarding Princess Zelda and her dilemma." Mr. Woolsey said. "Any thoughts?"

"I used to play this game when I was a kid way back in the eighties," Colonel Shepherd said, "I never thought I'd be doing it for real."

"I'm with you there," Dr. Lee said, "I mean the implications are mind-boggling."

"Why can't we just send her off-world to one of our allies for the time being? That way if this Demon King comes looking for her, he won't find her here and pass us by." Rodney offered.

"But then we'll just be putting our allies in danger," Colonel Shepherd said, "and if I'm not mistaken, it won't reduce us as a target, will it? He'll just get ticked she's not here."

"In all likelihood, really," Dr. Lee said. "I've spent a large part of today going through all the game guides and walkthroughs for the Legend of Zelda games. The demon king isn't the understanding type, I mean... No, if he comes here he's going to do a lot of damage no matter what."

"Alright, next option." Mr. Woolsey said.

"We help her get back to her own world to let this 'cycle' continue like it's supposed to." Colonel Shepherd stated.

"Except it's already gone beyond her reality, and spilled over into ours and who knows how many others." Rodney said.

"What do you mean," said Mr. Woolsey.

"I mean look, she's here. Why is she here? If this demon king, Ori, rogue ascended being whatever you want to call him is responsible for this, then why is she here? Why put her in our hands where we're going to do everything within reason to protect her? Why not just have his way with her wherever he's at?" Rodney stated.

It was a good question. "Are you saying this demon king isn't responsible for her being here?" Dr. Keller said.

"Maybe not directly at least. But from what I can see, whoever sent her here did it to protect her and whatever power she's carrying. Someone else from outside our reality made this our business for some reason, and now we've been dragged into this, this... video game," he spat the words, "against our will."

"Why would they do that? If they knew it could harm their world for her, what did you call it a 'Triforce'? Yes, for her Triforce to be removed from their world, why risk it?" Mr. Woolsey asked.

"Maybe it has something to do with who she really is, or I mean, who she's supposed to be." Dr. Lee said.

"What do you mean?" Mr. Woolsey asked.

"Well, in one of the more recent games it was revealed that Zelda was actually the reincarnation of the good goddess Hylia. In that game she had to go through several trials to recover her ancient memories. She's bound to Hylian form and tied to the world of Hyrule itself." Dr. Lee explained.

"So whoever sent her here felt like she couldn't be protected there anymore and sent her to us?" Colonel Shepherd said.

"Yeah, I mean, it would explain a lot of things." Dr. Lee said.

"I don't get it, though. Why interrupt the cycle now? How could we defend her any better than her 'hero'?" Colonel Shepherd asked. "It seems like everything's worked up till now."

"Good question." Mr. Woolsey said.

Rodney became silent and thoughtful. Jennifer had no answer to it. Dr. Lee then said, "well, if Zelda's ten years old, then Link would be ten years old as well right now. They're always the same age, but I don't know why that would make a difference this time. In the games, he's either ten or seventeen when it all happens. Maybe he does have to do it, but needs some help this time."

"But how could we help him?" Mr. Woolsey asked.

"We're talking about a powerful ascended being right?" Rodeny asked.

"Well, yes, we think so." Dr. Lee said.

"Then we may actually be able to put an end to the demon king once and for all. Let the good guys win for good, so to speak." Dr. McKay said.

"How?" Mr. Woolsey asked.

"Well, as you know, we've been on pretty good terms with the former priors of the Ori and they've helped us retrieve Adria's flagship from their galaxy." Rodney started.

"And?" Colonel Shepherd asked.

"And... we were finally able to download the entire database from it and load it into Atlantis' computers." Rodeny continued.

"And?" Colonel Shepherd asked again, impatiently.

"And... Along with that database came the plans for the San Graal device. We didn't have the ability to recreate it before, but with Atlantis' computer system and laboratories, we could conceivably build another one." Rodeny said with the beginning of a smile.

"Don't we need an ancient's help for that?" Mr. Woolsey asked. The last time it was used was a sore memory for him.

"Um... Excuse me, what's a San Graal device?" Jennifer asked.

"It's a weapon designed by Merlin to interrupt the specific frequencies of ascended beings. It's a bomb capable of killing ascended beings." Rodney said, pleased with himself.

"But wait a second," Dr. Lee began, "not all the gods and spirits of Hyrule are bad. If we detonate it there, it might have the same effect as keeping Zelda here."

"Could we limit its effects? Make it focus on a single target?" Mr. Woolsey asked.

"Well," Rodney stopped and thought, "we're talking about canceling one set of frequencies with another. It should be possible to point those canceling frequencies in a specific direction."

"Alright, Rodney, work on it." Mr. Woolsey said.

"We would need the Master Sword." Dr. Lee said.

"What is that?" Mr. Woolsey asked.

"In the games it's the only weapon that can harm the Demon King. If everything else from the games is real, then we may need to somehow integrate the San Graal into its blade." Dr. Lee said.

"Alright, we'll take that into consideration." Mr. Woolsey said. "Meeting adjourned."

As the others left the conference room, Mr. Woolsey rubbed his temples again and wished for the simpler days of being a corporate lawyer. Things seemed so much less complicated then.

Chapter 4 – New Worlds

It was quiet in the old underground city as the night cycle of lighting took hold. At one time, it was a thriving metropolis of hundreds of thousands, before the plague happened. Those who survived fled to make new homes and new lives elsewhere. Rediscovered through a hidden tunnel which had been drilled through the side of a dormant volcano, the ghost city lay entombed miles beneath the New Mexico desert. It had been the subject of curiosity for a few adventurous souls for about twenty years until it the United States military came and sealed it of citing "national security." Those researchers and aficionados who refused to stay silent and leave were "invited" to continue on the research team. It was home now only to a few handfuls of researchers commissioned by the I.O.A., the international organization that oversaw everything to do with Earth's Stargate program and "alien" research.

The ancient cavern it was contained within was enormous. It had to be to contain the city of D'ni, easily the size of Manhattan or larger, as well as the great underground sea whose waters lapped D'ni's stone docks and shores. During it's day cycle, it always seemed to be in a perpetual twilight as it was lit by a strange phosphorescent algae which grew in the great sea and gave this hidden world it's thirty-five hour day and night cycle. It's night cycle, oddly enough didn't go completely dark, but just enough to feel different and allow the body's rhythms to continue somewhat normally.

Deep beneath the ruined library of D'ni, Link and Epona materialized in a great stone hall lined with black columns. He looked behind him, but there was no doorway, no ring like he had seen before. They just appeared out of thin air. Behind him was a large book laying closed on a pedestal. The walls behind the columns were lined with more books from floor to ceiling set into stone shelves. At his feet, several inches of dust and dirt covered what had once been a polished marble floor. Placed in various locations around the room were benches, desks, and chairs which seemed to all be made of the same black stone the columns were. The room was lit by strange lamps which glowed, it seemed, just enough to read by and no more.

As Link took in his surroundings, he bent down to study the dust on the floor. It hadn't been disturbed for a long, long time. He then stood up to look at the book on the pedestal. He was fortunate the pedestal wasn't taller than he was, but he was forcefully reminded of his youth again as he realized a full grown man would be looking down on the book, while it lay just beneath his eye level. The book itself was also covered in dust, but seemed otherwise whole and intact. He carefully blew the dust off the leather cover to see the title, except it was meaningless to him. It consisted of what looked to him like random squiggles and lines, not the straight lines of the Hylian script he was familiar with.

He pulled the Amethyst Lens from the pouch he carried on his belt and looked at the writing again. The lines and squiggles reshaped themselves into real words he could read. It said "The Book of Hyrule." He opened the book and began examining it's pages through the Lens. Rather than telling a story about Hyrule, it was describing Hyrule. What it was like, how it would work, how much water, what the rules were that governed it. It was the strangest book he had ever seen. On the back page was what looked like a little window the size of an adults hand. In that window he could see all of Hyrule fly by and then the Temple of Time and the room where the sages waited for him.

He felt the book was somehow his key to returning, and he was thankful that it was right here waiting for him. He wasn't ready to try and figure out how to use it yet, and he couldn't fit it in his own pouches. He closed the book and then decided to put it in Epona's saddlebag for the time being. He didn't think anyone would mind because it didn't look like anyone even knew it existed. He then went over to the books on the shelves and found more books like it, as well as others that seemed to be notebooks on different worlds, as well as something called "The Art." He spent about an hour perusing the shelves of books trying to decide what might be useful and what might not be. The normal ten year old boy within him questioned why these dusty old books would be of any value, but the hero which had been awakened within him knew all too well the value of the information which the right book could give. He collected a few of the smaller notebooks on The Art, which seemed to him to be a kind of magical writing that enabled someone to visit different worlds. That would be immensely useful, he thought.

He then turned to his next problem, how to get out of this room and continue his search for Princess Zelda. It seemed to be shaped like a rectangle, but was so long the far end of it remained in darkness. He mounted Epona and began slowly riding into the dark end.

It truly seemed endless, the shelves of books looked like they wanted to go on forever. Every so often he would pass another pedestal with a book lying closed. He investigated the first few and found they were "describing books" just like the one he had taken, although he didn't recognize the names of those worlds, "Azeroth," and "Middle-Earth." This last one had been laying open, its back panel clean and exposed. He checked the floor around him and could find no footprints there either. That didn't seem right.

He left those books there and continued on until at long last he came to a large set of double stone doors, easily large enough for him to ride Epona through comfortably. He dismounted and pushed hard on them. Much to his surprise, they gave way easily and opened onto a grand staircase which led upwards. He took Epona by the reins and led her up the staircase. Here, the dust wasn't as thick, and it failed to muffle her hooves as they clip-clopped upwards.

The staircase was wide and spiraled upwards until he and Epona emerged into a ruined building with no ceiling. It appeared to be night-time in whatever world he was in as he looked into the black starless sky above him.

A man's startled voice said something off to his left. Link turned to see a lone figure wearing a long white coat and spectacles standing and gesturing to him. He was shouting something in a language he didn't understand. Link could see he was obviously frightened, and posed no threat to him. He tried talking to him, "Hello, my name is Link. Where am I?" It seemed the sensible thing to say, anyway.

About half a minute later several men dressed in strange black clothes came rushing in and pointed what looked like weapons at him. Link responded by pulling his shield and sword from his back. The sword was merely adequate, but the shield was a good Hylian shield which Rusl had given him. It had been given to Rusl years before as a token for his service in the Royal army, but had hung disused on his wall as an ornament since then. It had been enchanted with special magics to resist any attack, magic or otherwise, he had told him. He was fortunate the shield was large enough to protect most of his body, but light enough for him to wield.

"I'm not here for trouble." Link said. "I'm looking for Princess Zelda." He then added, "do you know where she is?"

The man in the white coat looked hard at him and stepped back when he heard the name "Zelda." Link could see the flash of recognition in his eyes as the man collapsed backward into the chair he had been sitting in prior to Link's arrival. He seemed to be muttering something to himself out loud.

One of the men in black then called out something to Link which he didn't understand. His lack of understanding must have been apparent because the man then pointed at him and then motioned downward with his weapon. He wants me to put my sword and shield down, Link thought, not likely.

The same man in black, a soldier, Link guessed, then called out to the man in white. The man in white then responded with something else. Link watched their faces closely. They were having a discussion about something, probably him as the man gestured to the archway Link had emerged from. He then said something else and Link could clearly make out the name "Zelda" as it passed back and forth between the two men several times.

The soldier then called out to his men, and they slowly lowered their weapons, motioning for Link to do the same. He was outnumbered, though that hadn't slowed him down much before. He didn't know what those strange weapons could do, and he didn't want to find out yet either. It seemed like they didn't want a confrontation any more than he did, and he needed to know what they knew about Zelda.

Link slowly re-sheathed his sword, although he kept his shield raised. The soldier in charge seemed satisfied with that and they lowered their weapons completely. Now what do I do? Link wondered. I can't communicate with them, but at least they won't try to kill me.

The man in white seemed somewhat recovered and sensed the impasse which had now formed. He then took out sheet of paper and drew something on it and held it up to show it to Link. He then tapped the picture and pointed at him, and then surprised him utterly when he said, "Link?" Link looked at the picture, it was an imperfect replica of his birthmark. The mark of the Triforce.

In response, Link carefully pulled the glove off of his left hand and held it up so that the man could see the back of it. The man in white seemed almost giddy. He heard his name and Zelda's several times as the man talked furiously with the soldier whose face took on an unbelieving look. He then heard another word passed back and forth several times so that it sounded like a name, "Atlantis." He didn't know who or what "Atlantis" was, but it was important somehow. He then remembered the books below, and had an idea of how he could communicate with these people.

He motioned for the piece of paper and the writing stick that the man in white had used. He decided he would have to trust that they wouldn't try to harm him in the next few minutes. Kneeling down on the stone floor, he then wrote a single sentence, "Do you know where Zelda is?" He then slowly pulled the Lens from his pouch and motioned for the man in white to look through it. He did and then nodded. Encouraged by this first success, Link took the paper again and wrote, "Can you lead me to her?" The man read it and nodded again. He then wrote some words on the paper and Link looked through the Lens. It read, "Where did you come from?" Link responded in Hylian script, "I came from the Temple of Time in Hyrule to a library deep below. I don't know where I am. I must find and return Zelda to Hyrule."

The man nodded and then said something to the soldiers. He then wrote on the paper, "We know where Zelda is. She came to our world several days ago. She's in a city far from here, but we can get you and your horse there soon. We didn't know for certain if you would come, but she mentioned you several times. We didn't expect you to show up in this city."

Link nodded, and then stumbled a bit. The man wrote on the paper again and then motioned with his hand to his mouth, "Are you hungry?" Link nodded again, he was also tired. The climb up the stairs, and the last few days had worn him out completely. "Come with me. We will get some food for you and your horse. You can trust me. My name is Daniel."

Link looked into his eyes and saw that he could be trusted. In a way the man's eyes reminded him of Saria's. They were kind and compassionate. He felt again like a ten year old boy in over his head, exhausted and needing some comfort. "Okay." He wrote on the paper. The man then led him and Epona from the ruined library. The soldiers followed, their weapons at ease, but never out of their hands.

Zelda woke the next morning to a glorious sunrise over the broad ocean. From the window of her apartment the golden sunlight streamed in bathing her in soft twilight which slowly brightened into full day. The ocean was new to her, the scent of salt filled her nostrils. It wasn't unpleasant, just new. The Hyrule she knew was land-locked. It made her feel small and insignificant next to the power of the waves which she could see and hear crashing against the docks and lower parts of the city.. Seagulls flew and played in between the towers of the city, squawking and talking to one another. She wondered what they were saying as she stood at the window. Was there no land on this world? She wondered. The water stretched for as far as she could see.

She moved back from the window to a dresser where her dress lay. She wanted to put her dress back on, but it seemed out of place here, and a bit dirty from having to wear it for several days. My night clothes were modest enough, she thought, but it wouldn't do for a Princess of Hyrule to go wandering about in her nightclothes.

As she was debating this she saw another set of clothes, neatly folded on a chair next to the door. She picked them up and examined them. It was a plain white, pullover short sleeve shirt, and some kind of blue breeches that reminded her of something some miners wore because of their sturdiness. A pair of short stockings and hard soled shoes sat on the floor. Underneath the blue breeches was some kind of woven pink cloth with two large holes she guessed was an undergarment meant for her waist and buttocks. Someone had left them for her last night after she fell asleep. She looked again at her dress over on the dresser, and then decided that these clothes would be better suited for her task at hand. They looked lighter and more comfortable in the tropical temperatures of this world than her royal dress, and would allow her to blend in a little more easily. Although, she thought as she felt the tips of her ears, it still wouldn't be easy.

She changed from her nightclothes into the Earth clothes which had been left for her. They were slightly big on her, but fit well enough. The collar of the shirt caught on her ears and she had to carefully tuck them through. The shoes, which had cloth uppers, were a little loose in comparison with her boots, but serviceable and cooler in this climate. In the last few days she had seen no children in Atlantis, and she wondered that someone was able to find clothing that could fit her. She was taller than most children her age, but also quite thin in comparison to these people. She had not yet reached womanhood yet, that was still a few years away.

She went back to stand at her window and take in the morning air and think. She had spent all night going over the symbols that were given to her. Two sets of symbols they told her belonged to two different systems of stargates, one they called a "Milky Way" stargate set, the other they called a "Pegasus" stargate set. She looked them over carefully for hours walking them back through her mind to all of the ancient runes she had even seen before. None of them looked familiar, no matter how hard she tried to make them fit in her mind. She could see that they were pictures of star constellations, but even then she didn't recognize the constellations, not exactly, although in a few from either she could imagine one or two of Hyrule's star shapes which she had seen on clear skies. She had tried to take these and work it through to six symbols but couldn't. In the end, she was no farther than when she started.

She missed her father and all the people of her household. There was a cook who would let her sneak strawberry pastries when no one else was looking, although her governess would be horrified if she knew. Her governess, she had been in the carriage with her when she had blacked out and woken up in this place. Was she okay? Were the brave men in her retinue okay? She didn't know, and she worried for them. They would lay down their lives for her, she knew. They were champions hand-picked by her father, every one of them. She became frightened that this was exactly what had happened.

Her stomach grumbled. The sun had risen completely and shone down on the world casting long morning shadows wherever its light touched. She wondered when she would be allowed to break fast. She went to her door and waved her hand over the side panel like she was shown and it slid open. Two women dressed as soldiers were standing outside her door. She didn't know why, but they reminded her of the Sheikah she had seen once in her father's court.

On seeing her, one of them touched the funny black device in her ear and said, "Zelda's awake and dressed." The disembodied voice of Mister Woolsey came through loud enough for Zelda to hear although she suspected she wasn't supposed to, "Excellent. Is she wearing the clothes Doctor Keller left for her?" The soldier glanced at her, "yes, sir." She replied. "Good. Have her wait there. I'll inform Doctor Keller, and send her there." The woman opened her mouth to speak, but Zelda informed her politely, "I heard, thank you." The woman nodded surprised.

About fifteen minutes later, Doctor Jennifer arrived and stepped into the apartment. Zelda had returned to the window while she waited to watch this new world in front of her in fascination. Besides the seagulls, every once in a while she could see animals leap from the water, or other sea animals rise just to the surface and blow water before they dived beneath once more.

"Enjoying the view?" Doctor Jennifer asked brightly.

"Good morning, Doctor," Zelda said politely. "It's so different from Hyrule. I have never seen an ocean before. I've read about them, but I've never seen one." Zelda said, turning to face her. Dr. Jennifer had wheeled a cart with food on it into the apartment and began placing the food on the small table.

"You are very kind, Doctor, thank you." Zelda said.

"It's no problem, really. I haven't had breakfast yet either, so I thought maybe we could keep each other company this morning." The kind woman responded.

"I don't just mean with the food," Zelda smiled and gestured to her clothing, simple as it was, she realized she was thankful for not having to get back into the uncomfortable dress.

"Don't worry about," Doctor Jennifer smiled and waived it off, "We keep a few extra sets of clothes in the medical center just in case. On occasion we have to treat kids as well as adults who come through the gate. It's no big deal, I'm just glad I got the sizes right." She looked at the clothes which fit loosely, and then added, "more or less."

When the table was set, they both sat down to eat. In front of Zelda were eggs, ham, some kind of orange juice in a pitcher, a pot of steaming black liquid and several flat round pieces of bread which Doctor Jennifer took two and smeared butter and a sweet smelling syrup on. Zelda did likewise, as well as taking some of the eggs and a slice of ham. She then took her fork and taste some of it, and it was heaven. She gave way to her hunger, which was more considerable than she realized, as she ripped into the food in front of her. How long had it been since she had eaten properly? They had fed her here, surely, hadn't they?

"It's good to see you've gotten your appetite back." Doctor Jennifer said with amusement.

"I'm sorry," Zelda said, pulling back a bit, "I don't mean to be rude."

"No, by all means, eat up. That's why I brought it." She smiled as she watched the girl devour everything in front of her and take more. "I thought it would be better to have breakfast here than the mess hall. There might be more than a few stares there."

"I see." Zelda said. "I thought your people were used to having visitors who were not from here."

"Well, we are," the woman said as she took a bite of eggs. "But you're kind of a different case. Remember Doctor Lee?"

Zelda nodded. The funny man who knew almost as much about her as she did.

"Well, he's not the only one who knows about you and your world from... other sources." She said. Zelda could tell she was trying to be tactful and not say too much. Perhaps that was just as well. Maybe she didn't want to know all of it. "At any rate, Mister Woolsey also thought it would be best."

"So, no more tours of the city then?" Zelda asked, knowing the answer.

"Not at the moment anyways." She answered.

They both continued eating and Doctor Jennifer poured herself a cup of the strange smelling black liquid. It seemed too warm to Zelda to be drinking such things, so she contented herself with the orange juice, which suited her well enough with its sweet yet tart taste. They continued talking for some time after the food was gone. The doctor would ask about Hyrule and her family, and then she would tell her a little of her home in Wisconsin where her father still lived. Zelda learned that there was indeed land on Earth, huge continents which stretched from north to south and many billions of people. Many cities and people of many cultures and languages. It was almost unbelievable to her. Hyrule seemed small and insignificant by comparison, and yet she knew her world was larger than just her kingdom as well. She had read of other lands and seas, even though she had never seen them. These people had the knowledge and means to explore and cover not only their world, but many others as well. And she had also learned that much of this knowledge was hidden from most of the people of Earth. That part of the conversation seemed a little uncomfortable to the Doctor.

"Why would you need to hide these things from your people?" Zelda asked.

"Not everyone is ready for these kinds of truths." The woman responded. "If the whole of Earth knew what we know, it would cause chaos, and we can't let that happen. We have to introduce these things slowly to let people get used to it first."

"So, your people don't know about this city then?" Zelda asked.

"No. Most of them don't. Only those who've been given permission to work here, and those in our governments know about it." Doctor Jennifer said.

"Would knowledge of my existence upset your world?" Zelda asked pointedly.

"Most likely." She said uncomfortably.

"I see." Zelda said. "So then it would be best for both our worlds that I return as quickly as possible, for many reasons."

"You could put it that way." The woman said, sipping her drink.

"Doctor Keller," Mr. Woolsey's voice came through her earpiece breaking the silence which had grown. "Yes," she responded touching it. "Please bring Princess Zelda to the jumper bay, she's going on a little trip." He responded.

"Excuse me? A trip where?" Doctor Jennifer responded. "Her hero has arrived at the site in New Mexico." Mr. Woolsey said. "He's been asking for her by name. Doctor Jackson is looking after him at the moment."

"My hero?" Zelda asked, taking the doctor by surprise. Doctor Jennifer repeated the question. "Yes, a young man dressed in green who answers to the name of Link. Tell the Princess he's very anxious to see her." Mister Woolsey replied.

"Link?" Zelda wondered out loud as the secret histories of Hyrule rushed into her mind like a flood.

Chapter 5 – Reunions

Daniel led Link to another, intact building in the city. Link carefully made mental notes of which alley and avenue he was led. Epona clip-clopped behind him dutifully following her master. The city was enormous, bigger than anything that his memories could conjure up to compare it to. It was also very quiet, even with all the people that Link saw scurrying around. There were many, many people in white coats, and he could see soldiers with weapons patrolling and standing guard every so often.

The city was made entirely of stone, or at least what Link could see of it. Even the doors and hinges were carved from stone, and there was no wood built into anything he could see. The furniture in the ruined library he had emerged into had also been intricately carved from stone. He had never seen anything like it. His memories confirmed this, even the Gorons' village deep within death mountain made use of some wood harvested from nearby forest or woods. He remembered the hidden tunnel between their village and the Kokiri forest which he suspected had something to do with it. It was as if real wood was a luxury this civilization couldn't afford to spend on simple building projects. In spite of this, the stonework wasn't spartan or austere. Much to the contrary it was exquisitely carved and shaped so that it flowed like artwork from one building to the next. It was the silence that made this city feel like a tomb, or a ghost town at the very least.

The building Daniel led Link into was large with many rooms, and it looked like many of the people had made this structure their home. Epona waited patiently outside the building in the street. Link didn't need to tie her up, she wouldn't go anywhere without him. Although he wished there had been at least some grass for her to munch on. In spite of the careful sculpting of the walls, when Link entered he could see no roof to speak of, but the ceiling opened up to the night sky, which was still strangely starless. This was disconcerting to him, as he couldn't make out clouds either. What would they do if it rained? Link asked himself.

Daniel led Link into a room in the building that had several seats, a desk, and some strange equipment scattered about. The man picked up one of these pieces of equipment, pushed some places on it and then talked into it. Link could hear another voice speaking back to him, and once again, he heard both his own name, and the name "Zelda" mentioned several times. He then motioned for Link to sit down on one of the sculpted stone seats. It was strangely comfortable and seemed to conform to his body as he sat down regardless of the fact it was made of stone.

Daniel then took another piece of paper and wrote on it, giving it to Link to look at through his Lens. Link took it and read it, "I've talked to my friends, they're going to bring Zelda here. It will take a day for here to get here. I am getting some food for you. We can try to find some food and water for your horse." Link nodded. He motioned for the writing stick and wrote, "Where am I? What city is this? Why are there no stars in the sky here?" And then handed the paper and the Lens to Daniel, who took a seat next to him.

Daniel read it, smiled, and then wrote, "This city is deep underground in a big cave. It's called D'ni. No one has lived here for two hundred years. We are studying it to learn about them."

Link read the paper carefully, and then wrote, "You and your people don't live here?" He passed it to Daniel.

Daniel wrote, "No. I'm only here for a week. The other people spend part of the year here, and part of the year living in cities far from here."

It was then that another man came in with a tray of food for Daniel and Link. It wasn't anything fancy, just some sandwiches, and some bottles of a kind of juice he had never seen before. The man said something to Daniel with a smile, and then left Link and he to their meal.

Link consumed his meal with gusto. He hadn't eaten much on the trail between the village in Ordon and the Temple of Time, his stomach had been upset, but now he felt like he was starving. The sandwiches were good. Maybe not as good as Rusl's wife made, but they were good and filling nonetheless.

While he was eating, Daniel wrote on the paper again, "How did you get from Hyrule to this city?"

Link wiped his hands on his leggings and, with a mouth still full, took the stick and wrote on the paper, "The sages sent me through a gateway in the Temple of Time and Epona and I just appeared in the library below."

Daniel then wrote, "Who are the sages? Did they send Zelda to our world?" He passed it back to Link.

Link wrote, "No, they don't know where she is, that's why they came and got me and awakened the hero before they thought I'd be ready for it. The sages are the keepers of the temples of Hyrule. They pray and meditate and sing to the gods to keep the seals on the sacred realm so that the Demon King remains imprisoned."

Daniel then took the paper and wrote, "Did the Demon King get free?"

"No," Link wrote back, "at least that's what they said. They wouldn't let me take the Master Sword because they didn't want to unbind his spirit."

Daniel looked at the paper, and then became thoughtful for a long time. He then wrote, "Did you see anything strange or unusual down in the library you emerged in?"

Link looked at it and then nodded, and wrote, "There was dust everywhere except on one book which had been standing open on the window page."

Daniel read it, and then quickly wrote, "Do you know which book?"

Link took the paper and then wrote, "The Book of Middle-Earth. It was the only book that looked clean like someone had touched it." Link avoided telling him that the Book of Hyrule was sitting in Epona's saddlebags.

Daniel read the paper several times with the Lens as though he was trying to make sure he didn't read it wrong. He then wrote, "It's going to be several hours until Zelda can make her way down here. There's a free bed if you want to sleep. No one here will harm you or your horse."

Link finished his meal and found himself very drowsy. He nodded and Daniel led him to a bed which had been set up in a separate room. Link placed his sword and shield by the side of the bed eying the soldiers that had taken positions outside the room. He then laid down keeping one eye on the soldiers and one hand on his sword. He continued this way until he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer and fell asleep.

Daniel turned out the lamp which had been on and left the room giving instructions to the guards not to disturb him or to take his weapons, and asked them to let him know when the boy woke up.

Zelda was zipping through the air faster than she ever imagined she could go in the flying machine that the Earth people called a "puddle-jumper." The pilot, the soldier named Colonel Shepherd, allowed her to come forward so that she could see out the front window. When they first showed the machine to Zelda she didn't understand how it could ever fly without wings. It didn't look like the right shape at all. It was merely a large, fancy cylinder with a door and a window, she thought. But then the scene out of the window moved so fast her mind could hardly keep pace with what her eyes were telling her. Colonel Shepherd took the machine up so high that the sky turned black and all the stars of this world became visible and she could see the outline of Earth like a beautiful, magical blue and green sphere. She wondered if Hyrule looked like this from up on high. She imagined only her gods knew the answer to that.

Zelda still wore the Earth clothes she had been given, leaving her royal dress back in the apartment she had slept in. It was suited for state functions and the appearance of royalty, not for the kinds of things she imagined she would be doing from here on out. They also gave her a jacket, because they told her where she was going could be chilly.

Almost as soon as they had gone up, he pointed the nose of the machine back downward and they began their descent to a large land mass, a continent. The region he was descending to was brown and dry and approaching very quickly. It reminded her a great deal of the Gerudo desert where sat the ancient prison called the Arbiter's Grounds, and further in, the Temple of the Desert Goddess. But the Gerudo desert was hot, she was told, and this desert in front of her looked equally warm.

"I thought it would be chilly where we were going?" Zelda asked Doctor McKay who had accompanied them. Doctor Jennifer said that she had to stay behind and look after her medical center, and so it was Doctor McKay, Colonel Shepherd, and several armed soldiers who had come to escort her.

"Don't worry, we'll only be on the surface for a short time," Doctor McKay answered, smearing a white ointment onto his face and nose. "Where we going is under the surface," he made a motion with his hand of going underneath something.

"Under the surface?" She asked as a large, inactive volcano came into view. Through the window she could see a great crack in the sidewall of the volcano that the ship was headed towards.

"Yeah, it's another one of our best kept secrets." Colonel Shepherd added as he began to circle the dormant caldera for a landing site.

"What is?" She asked.

"It's an ancient city miles underground. The only entrance to it is near the cleft in the volcano we're landing next to." Doctor McKay answered.

Colonel Shepherd added, "the really bad part about it is that we can't just fly or transport directly to it. We have to walk most of the way down. Once we're down far enough, we've got some ground cars that can give us some better transportation to the outskirts of the cavern where the city is. I've only been there once before. It takes a day or so to make the journey in."

The jumper landed neatly and softly and everyone, including Zelda, was given a backpack with some supplies and a device they called a "flashlight" which produced light at the push of a button. The heat from the desert overwhelmed her when the door was opened. She could feel her fair skin burning under it's fury.

"Ok, everyone to the tunnel, let's go!" Colonel Shepherd ordered.

The tunnel in question wasn't far from where they landed and as they began filing in it became cooler and cooler the further inward they went. Colonel Shepherd stopped the group at a lit glass office that seemed very out of place against the rock walls. The office was manned by several soldiers carrying more of the strange weapons that all of the earth soldiers carried. After a few minutes, these soldiers waived her group through and they continued through the tunnel which began to gently slope downwards.

The walk was long as the slope increased. Zelda had heard of tunnels, and underground cities like this before in Hyrule. The Goron mines she had been going to visit were similar, although she had heard stories of an ancient Goron city which had been somewhere in Hyrule. Electric lamps were hung on the tunnel walls every so often, through she could tell they had not been a part of the original carvings. Every hour or so there were more guard stations which her party had to stop at and identify themselves. After many of these they came to a great open shaft which plunged straight down. The path they were on turned sharply to the left and began to corkscrew around it down towards a bottom which she couldn't see regardless of the lamps.

"Do we have to walk all the way down?" Zelda asked.

"We used to, but now we get to ride down." Colonel Shepherd said, pointing to a metal cage which she took for an elevator.

"I see. How long does it take to get to the bottom?" She asked.

"A couple of hours. The lift can go faster, but it can make you ill if it doesn't do it slow enough." Doctor McKay answered.

Their party entered the lift, closed the door and began their long descent. One of the other men, a soldier sat on the floor of the lift and brought out a pack of cards asking, "anybody up for some cards?" To which several of the other men, including Colonel Shepherd readily agreed. Zelda sat down to watch the game, and after a time, Colonel Sheperd explained the rules.

As he explained the rules, he went into the strategy, "It's partly about what cards you have, but it's much more about what cards your opponent thinks you have. You see, I could have nothing at all, but if I can make my opponent think that I've got a much better hand than he does, then he'll give up and I'll take the pot. In the same way, I could have a really great hand, but then I might want him to think that my hand isn't as good as his so he bets more money to get me to bet more money that he'll think I'll lose. It's all about trying to bluff your opponent into thinking what you want him to think."

After a while, they dealt Zelda in, although she didn't have anything to wager. Some of the men generously said they'd cover her bets, assuming that she wouldn't play very well. They needn't have worried. By the time they reached the bottom, Zelda had cleaned them all out and left them shaking their heads and mentioning something about her being a "card shark" and taking her to Vegas. She saw no need for their money so she split it evenly and gave equal amounts back to each man, for which they were grateful.

When they reached the bottom and exited the cage she found the air around her much cooler than it had been even in the tunnels far above and she was now grateful for the coat she had been given. The walls of the great shaft were smooth but decorated with some tapestries with designs which she didn't recognize, but felt familiar somehow. There was yet another guard station at the bottom that waived them through to a wheeled carriage of a sort with no horses.

"Now we get to ride a little more comfortably," Colonel Shepherd said.

"How does the carriage move without horses?" Zelda asked. It was probably a silly question, she thought afterwards. These people had machines which could fly like birds, why couldn't they have carriages that move on their own?

"It has a motor which runs on electricity. If it ran on anything else, it could make the air down here go bad. It will take us the rest of the way in to the city." Doctor McKay said as he climbed in. Zelda and the rest of the party followed suit. Colonel Shepherd sat behind the control wheel, lamps came on in the front of the vehicle, and the carriage very quietly began to move through the tunnels further downward.

Link was standing in a strange grove of trees. In front of him was a huge temple which, in spite of its ruins, inspired a sense of majesty and awe in him. It was no place he could remember ever having been, and yet he knew it very well. Beneath him was a stone platform with a symbol carved into it. The symbol of forest, he knew somehow. The air was cool and moist and scented with the perfumes from many flowers and trees. He felt at home here somehow.

"I see you've come this far, boy." A menacing, cold voice said.

Link turned around. In front of him was a large, muscled, dark figure with flames for hair and burning eyes. He knew him somehow, and the memory wasn't good.

"You won't stop me this time, boy." The figure taunted.

"I will always stop you, no matter how many times you free yourself." Link found himself saying, much to his surprise.

"Not this time. No, things are different now, aren't they?" The figure started walking in a circle slowly around Link. Link remained silent.

"Yes, that's right. We're not just talking about our worlds anymore, are we? No, my power has gone far beyond just Hyrule. Even now I am building my armies, but Hyrule isn't enough, and neither you nor the gods of Hyrule can reach me." The dark figure laughed.

Link drew his sword and shield. "I'm here right now."

The figure laughed harder. "Do you really think you can challenge me, boy? Here? No, this is only a dream. I thought we'd have a nice little chat before I'm finally rid of you." He then added, "besides, that's not the right sword, is it? Oh, it's not a bad toy by any means. Ordonian make, isn't it? But we both know I can shatter it with ease. No, if we're to do this properly, you'll need the right sword, won't you? Go back and tell that goddess serving she-dog that the little hero needs his big-boy sword now. And," he said on a moment's reflection, "I would suggest a better shield. You won't be fighting spit-balls now will you?" The figure then turned to face him directly. He narrowed his eyes with a menacing glare, "I'm waiting little hero. Come and find me."

Link woke with a start and a cry, sweat glistened on his forehead. It was dark in the room he had been sleeping in. He could hear a voice speaking strange words into the air as he sat up. Daniel's voice answered in reply.

It had only been a dream, and yet more than that. The Demon King had been taunting him, but why? He thought back to his memories which had been awakened within him. The Demon King always taunted Link in whatever form he took. He enjoyed taunting him. It was something that Link didn't understand.

A few minutes later, Daniel appeared in the doorway. He said something, and then took out a pad of paper and wrote some words. Link wiped the sleep away from his eyes and reached for his Lens to read it. It said, "There's someone here to talk to you." Link nodded his head, then stood up and pulled on his sword and shield.

Daniel led him to another room in the building where a group of men, soldiers, waited, and standing in the middle of them was a blond Hylian girl, about his age but wearing the clothes of this world. Her eyes were the deepest blue he had ever seen. She looked at him and held up the back of her left hand. Link's own hand responded almost involuntarily. He could see the Triforce mark imprinted on her hand and as he drew close to her, one triangle within it glowed, as it did on his hand.

Instinctively, Link dropped to one knee, "Your highness." He addressed her in Hylian.

Zelda came closer to him and touched him on the head gently, responding in Hylian, "rise, Sir Link," and he did as he was bidden.

"I am no knight, your highness. Only a few days ago I was just a boy from a village in the province of Ordon..." He started to correct her.

"Thus it has always been when it is time for the Hero to arise." She answered.

"I was sent by the sages of Hyrule to find you and return you to our world." He said.

The other people in the room watched in rapt fascination. One of them asked her something in Daniel's language, and she responded in the same language. Link noticed that she seemed to be able to speak it fluently with no trouble at all.

"Do you have a way of returning us to Hyrule?" Zelda asked him.

"I believe so, your highness." Link nodded. "There is a book that I believe links to our world, if we put our hands on a panel in it then it will return us to the Temple of Time, where the sages are waiting for us."

Zelda took this information in thoughtfully. She then asked, "Has the Demon King escaped?"

Link answered, "I don't know. The sages were convinced that he hadn't, they wouldn't allow me to take the Master Sword for this journey for that reason. But I'm not so sure. I think he might have escaped into a different world. It appeared that another book had been used which links to another world. But the chamber where the books were kept didn't look like it had been opened for a very long time. Also, he came and taunted me in a dream."

Zelda looked disturbed at this news. She then said, "poker."

"I'm sorry, your highness?" Link responded.

"It's a game my new friends taught me on the way down here. In it, you try and make your opponent place a bet or give up by making him think you have or don't have certain cards. The Demon King is trying to play poker with us." Zelda responded

Again, the same man asked Zelda something, and she replied fluently in the strange language. She seemed to be explaining everything they had just said, and then another man spoke up rather happily, and a bit smugly. Zelda nodded at him.

"What did he say?" Link asked.

"He said we have a card in our possession which the Demon King knows nothing about. It is a jewel that when fixed to a sword should be able to kill the Demon King himself once and for all. It's called a 'sangraal' stone." Zelda replied.

"This 'sangraal' stone can kill an evil god?" Link asked, unbelieving.

Zelda then turned and repeated Link's words to the men behind her. The smug man replied, and Zelda translated, "He said, 'killing evil gods is our specialty.'"

They made their plans on how to proceed throughout the night cycle of the underground city. Finally, Link and Zelda couldn't remain away from Hyrule much longer, they both knew. Both of their Triforce pieces must be returned to Hyrule. But it was also agreed that they wouldn't be going alone. Colonel Shepherd and Doctor McKay would be accompanying them, along with four other soldiers. Early the next morning, they all held hands as Link placed his on the window panel of the Book of Hyrule and, as Daniel watched, they all shimmered into a golden light as their energy was drawn into the book.

Chapter 6 – The Cards are Dealt

Demise looked through the eyes of his latest host with satisfaction out towards the scene which lay before him. The sky above him was dark with black clouds that rolled and crashed into each other, but never parted. This was a bleak, sunless land where only foul things grew and flourished. The only rivers nearby were those of volcanic rock and lava glowing orange and yellow as they flowed by. Hundreds of years before he came, another like himself once ruled here, but he had been foolish and sloppy. Demise would not make the same mistakes which brought down the one they had called "the Great Eye."

Flames licked the eyes of his host as he surveyed the army on the training field in front of him, far below the ancient tower which he had occupied and rebuilt upon his entrance in this world. They called themselves "Uruks", their name in the common speech of this world was orcs. These creatures weren't so different from the bokoblins and trolls he used against Hyrule so many times before, but they were stronger and more disciplined, and more importantly, there were tens of thousands of them just waiting for someone strong enough to lead them. Someone like him.

Technically, his host was one of them, but taller, more muscular, and far more vicious than any of them. His grey black skin glistened with foul smelling sweat under the leather and iron armor he wore. A massive sword, too large for any hylian or "human" to wield hung heavy on his back. Jet black hair was tied back in a thick braid. Sharp yellow fangs were visible as thin lips were pulled back in a grin. The only traces of what this creature and his fellow orcs once had been were the ears which ended in a sharp point, but the elf which he had been had died long ago only to be replaced by the orc. The orc warrior was already the leader of his people, the thousands of orcs below him, but he wanted more. He had wanted the human and elf lands beyond his homeland of Mordor. He had built this army long before Demise had invaded his soul and taken control. None of the orc's people had noticed the difference.

The sages believed that Demise was still caged by the Master Sword, and in part they were right. Most of his essence was still trapped in the Temple of Time within Hyrule. He would not be able to fully manifest in the physical world, any physical world, until the Sword was removed from the pedestal. But it would only be a matter of time. He was certain of that. He had planned and plotted this for hundreds of years, since the last time his host had been killed and he had been fully caged. He knew it was only a matter of time before he would be able to work part of himself free and take possession of some like-minded soul. It was always just a matter of time. It amazed him that the mortal fools who guarded him didn't seem to understand that, although Hylia in her incarnate form never seemed to forget.

It was only by a stroke of fortune that he was able to work his essence free at a time when the doorway was open. It had been a very long time, but he remembered the doorway and that there were other worlds beyond Hyrule. It had been eons, but he remembered where they first came from. He only had to slip through unseen while the fool hero boy hesitated. He didn't bother to listen why the boy had been called there. They would meet eventually. They always did. They always would until he defeated the boy and destroyed his spirit once and for all.

That was why he was here, in the world called "Middle-Earth," in a land called "Mordor." It changed the rules of the game they played. The boy had held him back for thousands of years, but could never keep him from returning. It was a stalemate of sorts which would continue indefinitely until the rules which governed the game changed. He had finally succeeded in seeing to it that they did.

There were Others here in this world. He could feel them, and he knew they could feel him. He was only one, and they were many, yet they kept their distance and left him alone. Typical, he thought, though he considered himself strangely fortunate again that they did so.

He could feel the belief of the orcs on the field flow into his being, building his power as they surrendered their will to his own. He savored it as a sweet wine. When he was done with them, their devotion to him would be absolute, and Hyrule would not know what hit it. It only required that the boy and the cursed sages believe that he had escaped and pull the sword from its pedestal. That was only a matter of time, he was convinced of it. A matter of time and patience and his strategy would bear fruit.

The return through the portal was instantaneous and met with mixed reactions as Zelda, Link, six strange men and a horse stepped through the gateway. Instantly all the sages began talking at once. The men from Earth were overwhelmed at the sight in front of them. They had never before encountered people as different from themselves as the many races of Hyrule represented there in that holy place outside of time. They proceeded down the steps from the gateway and it closed behind them, sinking down into the floor from where it had emerged.

Impa held up her hand and called for quiet, then she said, "you have returned to us successful, young Link." She then motioned towards the men and said, "and you have brought strangers with you? What is the meaning of this?"

Link made to answer her, and then Zelda placed her hand on his arm to stop him, "I can answer that, your grace." Zelda said, glancing quickly at Link, who seemed somewhat relieved he didn't have to do the talking. The men from earth asked her a question, and she gave a quick explanation in their language. The sages took note of that, and whispered to each other knowingly.

Impa raised her eyebrows, and then hastily genuflected, "Of course, my Lady, forgive me."

"There is nothing to forgive, faithful Impa." Zelda said as she gently touched her shoulder and bid her rise. "These men have come to us from another world, another reality, to help us defeat the Demon King once and for all."

"Forgive me, my Lady," a large Goron, a mountain of rock in the shape of a man, spoke up, "but that is not possible. You of all people know that. We can only keep him imprisoned, but not even you and all the gods of Hyrule could fully destroy him. The balance, the cycle, must continue and go on."

One of the strange men who seemed to be a leader asked Zelda a question, and she responded. He then said something and she then spoke again, "Colonel Shepherd here is the leader of these men. He comes from a world called Earth, where I was transported to. He and his men have brought the means to the Demon King's final destruction." Turning to the Goron, she said, "You are right, your grace, that all the good powers of Hyrule could not, nor ever can, defeat the Demon King. He was too powerful for that in the beginning, and with his attachment to the Triforce of Power it became an impossibility for any of us." Then she turned to address the rest of the sages around her, "It is my belief this is why the gods took me to Earth."

The sages were quiet as she spoke. She stood tall and regal for a ten year old, and her voice betrayed an authority which went beyond royalty. "Earth, Terra in a language so ancient that we have forgotten what it even sounded like. I remember it as the world we all first came from eons before. Din, Nayru, Farore, Demise, and the others of us who first traveled here to transform this world into a garden paradise where we could be at peace, before we ascended and became this world's protectors, and before Demise and his followers betrayed all of us. I still don't know for certain which of my sisters brought me there, although I have my suspicions. She took me there to find an end to this unending cycle which continues to destroy our world, leaves our survival on a razor's edge, and keeps our people from progressing in wisdom and understanding. And there I found these good people who have been untouched by the cycle of legend."

"These people have fought many like him," She continued, "If the cycle was only influenced by our world then it would continue indefinitely. But the Demon King has altered that balance. At least part of his essence has escaped into another world. His ambitions no longer lie with just Hyrule. Many worlds are now threatened, including the world of these men. Colonel Shepherd bids me tell you that they will help bring him down."

"How is this possible, my Lady?" Another sage, a small girl with green hair but ancient eyes spoke up.

"They have a jewel that, when fixed to the Master Sword, will destroy any demon or god the Sword strikes, permanently." Zelda replied.

The sages all began talking at once again.

It was the weirdest experience of Colonel Shepherd's life. This was saying a lot. He had experienced a lot of truly strange things in his years with the Atlantis expedition. Nothing, however, had prepared him to step inside what was essentially a video game come to life. He stood there as stoically as he could taking it all in. McKay stood next to him fidgeting. The other men kept their weapons ready though Shepherd didn't think it would do any good with this particular group.

He wanted to interrupt and talk to these people directly, but he found himself spellbound by the voice and bearing of the young girl in front of him which went far beyond her one decade of life, or his many decades. Her voice exuded a power which he didn't dare interfere with. It was commanding, yet soothing, regal yet practical. He listened to Zelda talk, and talk, and talk some more, and then the whole place went into an uproar again.

"Uh, what's going on?" He asked Zelda when she had stopped talking.

"The sages are debating about whether what you have claimed could even be possible, or advisable." Zelda responded.

"Why wouldn't it be advisable?" Shepherd asked.

"The legend of Zelda has continued in the same way for many thousands of years. They don't know what will happen if the cycle is broken for good." She told him.

"Is there any way I can talk to them directly? Any magic or something you can do?" He asked her.

Zelda thought about it, trying to remember something. She then placed her palm on his head and closed her eyes in concentration. She mouthed some words, but he couldn't make them out.

Shepherd became light headed, and then he began hearing intelligible words from the myriad of beings around him.

"No, it's not possible! … It must be a trick! … Demise wants us to release him again!" He heard this coming from different directions. "How can it be a trick?" Others were saying, "This has never happened before." Still others were saying, "The princess spoke with the voice of Hylia and you dare to speak against her wishes?"

"Hey!" He shouted. All went quiet very quickly. "That's better." He said.

Impa stared at him intently, not sure what to make of this young man. "Do you have something to add?" She asked.

"Look," he began, "we didn't come here to trick you or cause trouble." He said. "We know your story, some of it anyway, in our world. Don't ask me how, it would take too long to explain, and I'm not even sure I understand it myself. We know this guy keeps coming back, and we know it ruins your world every time it happens. We came here to help you put an end to it. Now, our guys have come up with a weapon we've used against bad guys just like your Demon King before, and they're all dead now and it didn't cause anyone's world to end. Now, we want to work with you on this, we really do. But this guy's threatening Earth, so he's no longer just your problem, but he's our problem now as well. We're going to take him down one way or the other, whether you help us or not."

He finished speaking, and there was silence in the chamber for some time.

"Very well, stranger." Impa finally broke the silence. "But the Hero must be the one to wield the sword. The sword will recognize no other. No one else will be able to handle it. The Hero must deliver the death blow, you cannot interfere. Do you understand this?"

"He's a just a ten year old kid." Shepherd responded. Link, who had been silent this entire time, glared at Shepherd, who then added, "A brave ten year old kid, don't get me wrong."

"So he has been many times before, so he may be again if your jewel does not work." Impa replied. "He was chosen by Farore herself, and holds the Triforce of Courage within him. Only he can deliver the fatal blow."

"Your graces," Zelda began again, "In order for this to work, we must draw the Master Sword and mount the jewel to it. We may not have much time left."

"Time is a luxury we can afford in this place, my Lady." Impa responded. "There is still much for us to discuss and to plan. We cannot decide this in haste."

"What does she mean?" Shepherd asked in a whisper..

"The Temple of Time sits outside of normal time." Zelda replied, "All the sages you see gathered here are all the sages of Hyrule past and present. Time does not pass in this place, this is why the Master Sword is kept here even when the Temple is in ruins in normal time." She said. "They will take as long of a time as they need because no time passes for them or us in our normal times while we are here."

"So we're going to be here for a while?" Shepherd asked.

"Yes." Zelda responded.

Doctor McKay who had been unusually silent this whole time turned to Shepherd and asked, "what's going on now?" Shepherd then did his best to explain everything he had just been told. "So what, we're in some kind of a time dilation field?" Shepherd shrugged his shoulders and mouthed "I don't know, Rodney." McKay ignored it, "but time dilation wouldn't explain all of it, hmm."

The talking amongst the sages went on and the party of six from Earth, tired of standing found places to sit either on benches or up against walls. Zelda remained standing among the sages as she listened intently to all the conversations and debate which was happening at once. Link led Epona over to a corner of the chamber away from the loud voices which were beginning to upset her. Shepherd went to talk to him.

"Hey, no hard feelings about what I said earlier, I hope." Shepherd said to him.

"No." Link responded. "You were right... and wrong." He said as he stroked Epona thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?" Shepherd asked.

"I am just a ten year old boy, but I have the memories of many lifetimes. It's not just memories. I can feel having been places and done things... I've never been outside of my village until recently, and yet I know that I've fought armies almost single handed, I've explored ancient temples, and fought creatures you would only see in your worst nightmares. I've never used the sword I carry in actual fighting, but my arms and muscles remember using swords like it against hundreds of enemies, all trying to kill me. I've never seen the Demon King's face, and yet I can see it clearly, every incarnation of it, in my mind's eye." Link told him. There was a haunted look in his eyes.

Shepherd was silent for a minute, then he said sympathetically, "wow, it must be tough."

Link nodded. "I didn't choose this, it was chosen for me. It is always chosen for me."

"Well, maybe we can make so so you don't get chosen again. I mean so no one else gets chosen like this again. You know what I mean." Shepherd responded.

Link nodded again.

"Colonel Shepherd?" Zelda called to him. The debating and loud voices had ceased.

He left Link to his horse and went back over to where the sages and Zelda stood. The look on Zelda's face was pensive at best. He really didn't like that look. It had bad news written all over it.

"We have debated the matter thoroughly, Colonel Shepherd. We cannot allow the Hero to draw the Master Sword yet." Impa told him.

"So what does that mean? Not yet?" He asked.

"It took a great deal of power to send the Hero to your world, and we are still not recovered from that. We no longer have the power to open the gateway back to your world to be able to reach wherever he has gone to. If what you say is true, the Demon King is not in Hyrule, and he is not at full strength. If we keep the Master Sword in place here, he may not regain strength enough to be a threat for several years. When that time comes, then we will consider your plan. As for you and your people, we are sorry, we cannot yet send you home." Impa told him.

Shepherd took a minute to take in what she just said, and then responded with "what?!"

"We will eventually be able to open to gateway again and return you home, but it may take years. Travel through time, even suspending time, takes relatively very little power, so you see the Temple around us. Travel to other realities is another matter entirely. It is an enormous drain on us. We will return all of you to the time this Hero and the Princess are from. We will contact you when we are able to do more."

McKay asked what was going on, and Shepherd told him. His response was less than pleasant. The four soldiers who came with them weren't pleased either.

Part II

Chapter 7 – The Demon King Moves His Pieces

"My Lord, Osgiliath has fallen!" The soldier in front of the King blurted out out as soon as he reached earshot.

"What was that?" The king asked him to repeat himself. He thought he was mistaken in what he had heard.

"My Lord Eldarion, Osgiliath has fallen." The soldier repeated as he fell to one knee. The throne room went dead silent as the soldier repeated himself.

They were words he never thought he'd hear in his lifetime. They were words from the time of his father's father, the man who restored the kingship to Gondor and Arnor.

"How?" He asked.

"Orcs." The soldier spat the word. "Orcs poured into the city. We had no warning. It was like they just appeared as if by magic. Thousands of orcs just materialized out of thin air it seemed."

"Orcs?" The king asked in unbelief. Orcs hadn't been seen in Gondor since the time of his father's father.

"I am certain of it. These were savage, evil creatures. If they did not match the descriptions of the ancient goblins then I do not know what would." The soldier responded.

"And the people?" The king feared the answer.

"Few of us escaped alive. I led the survivors to Minas Tirith as quickly as I could." He remained on one knee.

King Eldarion rose from his white throne. "Tend to the survivors. See that they have whatever they need." He instructed his advisors who immediately hurried out of the throne room shouting instructions to their own underlings. "Light the beacons," the king ordered. It was an order he never thought he'd have to give in his lifetime. "Call our armies at once." So now we face the nightmares of our ancestors, he thought. "I should wish for their heroes to arise as well." he said under his breath to himself. Human enemies they understood and could subdue, he thought, they had skirmishes with the men of the south more and more frequently. But no human being now living could remember the orcs as anything more than something to frighten children with. Children's stories or no, he thought, he remembered the histories he was taught. He only hoped he would prove himself to be forged of the same stuff as his ancestors.

These people proved even riper for conquest than Demise had thought. His orc host stalked through its ruins, the stones now stained with human blood. It took very little effort and a paltry bit of magic to storm their peaceful little river city. Why they had kept no standing army this close to their ancient enemies was beyond him. It only demonstrated their weakness, and weakness was something which he despised.

Why hadn't the orcs moved before now on their own? He wondered. Of course he knew the answer, they fought amongst themselves too much. He had needed put a swift end to it shortly after he had arrived if he was to make them useful to him. These orcs would be nothing like the humans of this world had faced before. Strong, disciplined, focused, and organized; yes, he had trained them well.

He was much stronger now than he had been in a long, long time. His power trickled to him slowly through the time and space which separated him from his cage. The "good" powers of Hyrule hadn't taken his bait as he had hoped, but the Master Sword would soon no longer matter. First, he would give these orcs what they desired, this world. And with this world, he would grow even stronger and would be able to send his armies through the gateways back to Hyrule, and then to Terra. Neither the sages, nor the Others, nor the cursed boy would be able to do anything about it. He chuckled to himself. He would look forward to their next encounter, their last encounter, with relish. His host licked his lips and fangs at the thought of it.

In the distance, he could see the outline of the white tower carved into the hillside. He had been certain it would be more difficult than this little excursion. In the six years he had been here he learned this lands history. An assault on Minas Tirith was a difficult proposition at best, or at least had been for the last occupant of the Dark Tower. Demise had learned to be far more patient, and far less reckless. He would let the fear which his magic brought upon this place do its work. Sauron, the last master of Mordor, had been a fool and a weakling, he thought. He moved too fast and let his personal feelings of vengeance get in the way. He wanted it too quickly. Demise had learned the sweet rewards of waiting for the opportune moment. Sauron had fallen prey to his fear. Demise had no such weakness. When Demise would take the field of battle against the white tower, it would be over quickly. He would see to it.

The sun was already risen and climbing the sky quickly when Link woke up in his room in Hyrule Castle. He knew he would probably receive another lecture about sleeping in too late from someone, probably Zelda.

His room was a far cry from his small treehouse in the Ordonian village. It was large, warm, comfortable, and well kept. The room was lined with bookcases, and decorated with various weapons, pieces of armor, strange objects, and books. They were all trophies of the Hero, he knew. He remembered when each and every one of them had been acquired whether or not he had been actually present to acquire them, at least in this lifetime.

His room was next to the Princess' private chambers in the most well guarded part of the castle's keep. Strictly speaking, it wasn't "his" room. It was the room which had been traditionally set aside for the chosen Hero. As such,it had been sealed and unused for a very long time prior to his arrival at the castle. In point of fact it wouldn't unseal itself for anyone else. Many had tried to enter it, and none had succeeded. Link only needed to touch the handle of the door and it swung gently open for him as though a servant welcoming his master home from a long trip. And Link had immediately felt at home as well. He knew he belonged in this room, among these artifacts as though he was one of them; a relic from a time in the distant past.

He got out of bed and went to the mirror of the vanity which had been set into the wall of a corner of the room. There was a washbasin with fresh water scented with rose petals on the counter in front of it and he splashed some it on his face to wake himself up even more. Mornings were always the hardest, especially when there was little for him to do that day, and today was the end of the week.

He inspected his sixteen year old appearance in the mirror. Time, training, and what adventure he was allowed had been somewhat kind to him over the last six years, but not overly so. His body was muscular, but not overly so. His hands were hard and calloused from swordplay and shield training. He still retained the look of youth about his face, but no one could say he looked childish. His blue eyes said too much about him for anyone to think that.

He dressed in a clean green tunic, chain mail, and gauntlets and went to find Colonel Shepherd. If Link was lucky, he would be in the mood for sparring today. It would give him an excuse to avoid Doctor McKay.

Over the last six years, much to his credit, Doctor McKay had never given up trying to find a quicker way back to his world. He learned the Hylian language quickly and searched every book he could get his hands on for some clue. Link didn't often understand half of what McKay talked about, but soon found himself as the good doctor's chaperone to every far flung ancient ruin Hyrule had to offer. At first, Colonel Shepherd and his men would go with them, but as weeks turned into months, and months into years, and the list of sites he wanted to check grew it was increasingly just Link and McKay.

At first, Link didn't mind helping him too much, it gave him an excuse to put his dormant skills to good use against the creatures which lurked in such places. But McKay would talk so much, mostly about how much he knew and others didn't, that Link looked forward to it less and less. But he was one of the few people who knew where such sites were to be found, and how to navigate them safely. Over the course of six years though, the number of sites left to search was dwindling rapidly. He and McKay had criss-crossed Hyrule and its outlying islands so many times in the last few years that many people in the towns and villages knew them at first glance. They never found what McKay seemed to be looking for, and that made the doctor even more determined to check another temple, another ruin, another mine somewhere.

Link descended out into the sunlight of the courtyard and crossed over to the training grounds for the palace guard. This was usually where a person would find Colonel Shepherd. In the years they had been in Hyrule, Princess Zelda had set the good colonel and his men over the training of her palace guard and the training of Hyrule's armies in general. As with most of her decisions, it had been a wise one. It had given them a task to focus on, and it had produced a disciplined, well trained, professional military for Hyrule the likes of which Link couldn't remember from any of his past lifetimes. Shepherd instilled in them the principles of honor, duty, and one of his most sacred rules of never leaving one of their own people behind. This army of Hyrule would have stood up to Ganondorf's forces and probably defeated them instead of running like cowards.

He found Shepherd consulting a map with the generals of Hyrule's forces surrounding him. What was that about? Link wondered as he drew closer.

"The bokoblin raids on the outlying villages have been getting worse." He heard one of the generals say; Sir William if he heard right. "We need to send reinforcements to the border towns."

"What we need to do is put an end to the bokoblins once and for all." He could hear another of the generals, Sir Portant, remark.

"What's going on?" Link interrupted.

"Ah, Link, we were just discussing troop deployments. It seems that our bokoblin friends aren't living up to their terms of the treaty the princess signed with them." Sir Williams responded.

Shepherd had been quietly studying the map. Link glanced at it. On it were places marked with a red "X" along the border with Bokoblin territory. There were a lot of red "X"s.

"Link, have a seat." Shepherd told him without looking up from the map. He turned the map around so that Link could see it clearly and then told him, "each of these red "X"s is a point where there's been a bokoblin attack on a town or settlement in the last week. Does this mean anything to you? You see any kind of a pattern?"

Link studied the map more carefully. Bokoblin Territory began past the ancient Arbiter's grounds on the outer edge of Lanayru Province. It was a place he didn't like to remember. That was all desert. In much older times it was... He saw a pattern in it.

"They're rising up in what used to be called the Gerudo Desert centuries ago, way out on the edge of Lanayru." Link said.

"And what does that mean?" Shepherd asked.

"The Gerudo desert is where Ganondorf came from." Link responded. The generals took a step back, frowns creasing their faces.

"Ganondorf." Shepherd said. "He was the Demon King's last host, wasn't he?"

"It's a hated name." Sir Williams spat on the ground.

"I can see that." Shepherd retorted. "So what does that mean? The bokoblins are throwing him a party for old times' sake or what?"

"No." Link said. His mind was racing. It had happened before. The monsters would start becoming more frequent. Hyrule would come under siege. "It means the cycle is beginning in earnest again."

Shepherd sat back to take in what he had just heard. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Link said.

"Something's wrong. Why haven't the sages gotten a hold of us yet?" Shepherd asked.

"I don't know." Link responded.

"What are you talking about?" Sir Portant asked in total confusion. "What cycle? What's happening?"

Rodney McKay was staring intently at a chalkboard in his laboratory. It wasn't unusual for him to do this. Princess Zelda had often come into this part of the castle she had set aside for him to find him as still as a statue muttering strange things to himself, his eyes flittering over the symbols written out. On occasion he would erase some and add others. Today, as she found him once again, he barely seemed alive as he stared.

"Doctor McKay?" She asked.

"Yes, just a minute, I'm thinking." He responded with annoyance. She had mercifully enabled he and the four other soldiers, Johnson, Davidson, Billings, and Samuels to understand the Hylian speech in the same way she did for Colonel Shepherd several years before.

This was a game of sorts she played with him, "and what are you thinking?" She asked him.

"I'm trying to make the power requirements work to get us home." He told her without taking his eyes off the board. It wasn't the first time he had told her this.

"I see. Have you made any progress yet?" She asked, also part of the game.

"No." He responded in defeat. "I still don't have the slightest idea how the sages make the stargate work without a visible power source to begin with, and they never bothered to explain it to me. If they're something like priors then... I still don't know how they make it work."

He turned to face her. She had grown into a stunning young woman, tall and regal, yet lithe and athletic of build. She always had a serene expression on her face, and Doctor McKay could never seem to annoy her like he did with most people. She usually wore a bemused smile on her face when she talked with him.

"What of your latest excursion with Link, did you find what you were seeking?" She asked.

"No." He responded. "It has to be in Hyrule somewhere. From everything I've read of the D'ni, they never linked to a new world without taking a linking book with them to return home. They were ridiculously cautious and thorough. If the ancestors of the Hylians came from D'ni, then they would have had to have left one somewhere in Hyrule." It was the same thing he had said before many times. He only repeated it out of frustration.

"Is there anywhere else in Hyrule, any other ancient site which would possibly go back to the earliest times? Somewhere we haven't checked or been able to check?" McKay asked, hoping.

"Many of the most ancient places have been infested by dark creatures time and again. It is possible that the book of which you speak was destroyed during one of those times." She had said this before too, although there was a nagging voice in the back of her mind which said that it hadn't, and that the book was quite safe.

"Is there anywhere else?" He asked again.

"There is only one other place I can think of, and it's really only a legend. You would have to ask Link as to how to even get there if it exists." She said, the nagging voice telling her that it did indeed exist.

McKay had heard this part of the conversation before as well. "And where is that?" He asked.

"It is an ancient city built in the sky. Legend says that it was inhabited by the ancient Hylians many thousands of years ago. If you have searched everywhere on the surface of our world, then there is only one other place you can look." She told him.

"A city in the sky? We'd have to be able to see something that size from the ground wouldn't we?" He asked, disbelieving. It wasn't the idea of a city in the sky that he didn't believe, he'd read the reports of things like that from Stargate Command. In fact, that seemed entirely believable. It was that something like that could have remained hidden from the ground he had a difficult time with.

"As I said, it is a legend. The cycle of the Triforce has caused us to lose much of our learning and history over the many ages. What little we have been able to preserve of what is known is kept in the Castle's library, as you know." She said. She then asked, "have you been able to use any of our magical knowledge in your studies?"

McKay smirked, and then uncharacteristically bit back a rude comment. Zelda reminded him somewhat of Jennifer Keller, and that tended to make him behave a little better around her.

"To be honest, I haven't tried." He said.

"I see. Why?" She asked.

"I'm a man of science. Hard facts and information. Magic has nothing to do with that." He responded.

"And yet since you've been in Hyrule, have you seen no evidence of the reality of the power of our magic?" She argued.

He pursed his lips and said nothing.

She continued, "It has been magic, and not your science, which we have relied on, and been grieved by, for most of our history, Doctor. There are powerful forces in our world which you haven't even tried to understand." She then looked deeply into his eyes. "You're afraid of it." She pronounced quietly.

"I'm sorry, what? No... I'm not afraid of some hocus pocus witchcraft. I just don't believe in it." He responded defensively.

"It's something your science can't explain, so you try and pretend it doesn't exist. This isn't wise, Doctor McKay, and it won't help you find the answers you've been seeking." She said. "You are no longer on Earth. The rules of our world are quite different than the rules of yours. There's no way to win a game if you don't bother to understand the rules by which it is played. Consider this in your calculations."

She left McKay to his chalkboard to puzzle over what she had said. It wasn't the first time she had said it. She hoped, though, that it would finally sink in, for all their sakes.

Chapter 8 – Things Get Serious

When they had first been stranded, Shepherd had told himself and his men that he's been in this situation before and that it wouldn't go on forever. He'd been stuck in the sanctuary with a cloister of wanna-be ancients for six months and it all worked out. He felt confident at the time that they wouldn't have to remain stuck for long; that McKay would pull something out of his hat like he always did and find a way to open the stargate and get them home again in short order. After six years, his faith in his friend was beginning to be strained.

When they, Zelda, and Link realized that it would be longer than they had planned on, Zelda offered them all jobs in the castle. That was after they had accompanied Link in scouring every ancient site they could find, and more than a few that were off the beaten trail. It was Zelda's idea to involve them in Hyrule's military affairs, not his, but he didn't complain when she did. It was only supposed to be temporary. That was six months after they arrived, and by that point in time he was happy for the diversion. At first, he was just helping train their troops and bring them up to snuff. As things wore on, however, it was clear that Hyrule's generals had no idea what they were doing, and Zelda then gave him command over all of her armed forces, with Davidson, Johnson, and the other two acting as his lieutenants to continue training and schooling them. It was a position that traditionally went to the Hero, she said, but Link had no objections and it kept Shepherd busy. His uniform may have changed to something a bit more medieval (the breastplate of his armor often chafed), but his duties really hadn't.

He looked at the men training in front of him as he passed by and nodded with approval. When they arrived, he wouldn't have trusted the Hylian soldiers with guarding a toilet. Now, he would put them up against anyone. They just needed proper teaching and discipline. If he had to lead these men into battle against Demise, Ganondorf, or any Ori army, he knew they wouldn't let him down. He stopped to watch one of them practice with the new rifles McKay and some other of Zelda's court alchemists came up with. It may not have been strictly by the book to introduce a little industrial technology to this place, but given their history he didn't want to be caught unprepared, and Zelda agreed. They weren't P-90s, and they were only single shot, but they would give Hyrule the distinct advantage over swords and bows. Aside from the rifles, they had also developed cannons, steam engines, and a few other goodies. They had tried developing some basic aircraft as well that ran on alcohol distilled from local grains. They weren't fully ready yet. Still, if this was going to be their final battle, he wanted it as heavily in their favor as possible.

He left the training area with Link and headed to McKay's lab. He liked the sixteen year old kid that walked next to him. Heck, he even thought of him as the kid brother he never had. Sure, he was a little undisciplined, even a little lazy at times, but when it really mattered, there were few other people he had known that he could really count on when everything hit the fan. He learned that on their first excursion to some temple in an old forest where Link remembered there might have been a library. Link saved his bacon from some undead skeleton warriors more times than he could count that day. The kid instinctively knew what they were up against and didn't hesitate. He had only been ten years old then. He only got better after that. Shepherd was pretty certain that he could have given his friend Ronan a run for his money, even then, and that was saying something. He wasn't sure who he would place bets on in that contest.

Ronan, Teyla, Jennifer, even Woolsey... He wondered what they were doing. It had been six years. No one had encountered any additional search teams from Earth, which was unusual, although a part of him was glad they hadn't tried to send anyone else through the book. That way no one else was trapped here with them. Although, another part of him was peeved that they hadn't sent anyone else through looking for them. What happened to "we don't leave our people behind"? He thought on occasion.

They entered Rodney's lab and found him staring at a chalkboard... again.

"We need to talk." Shepherd told him.

"Yes, we do." McKay turned as looked at both of them, then addressed Link, "Do you know anything about a city in the sky?"

Link thought a moment, then said, "yes. Although I don't know how we'd get there now. The past life time I was there involved a huge cannon and a rough landing." He said. "There are portals that can take you to parts of it, but it would be a time consuming search."

Shepherd jumped in, "a search we don't have time for right now, Rodney." the frustration was building in his voice.

"What? Why?" McKay asked innocently.

"The Demon King is rising." Link told him ominously.

"What? That's not possible, the sages would have called us back, wouldn't they have?" McKay asked.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out. Pack your gear, bring the sangraal jewel. I'm going to round up Davidson, Johnson, Billings, and Samuels. We're heading out for the Temple of Time tomorrow morning."

Zelda hadn't offered to go with them. She knew it would be more prudent for her to remain. The Demon King was still out of Hyrule as far as they knew, so she and her part of the Triforce would be safe. She had offered them a larger contingent of soldiers to escort them, but Shepherd turned her down. "We need to travel light and fast," he had said.

She hadn't expected anything different. They were dressed, mostly, in the gear which they had brought into Hyrule with a few, distinctly Hylian additions. Each of them now carried a shield and sword with which they had all become proficient in their time there, with the exception of McKay who devoted himself to his research. In addition to their flak jackets and body armor, they wore light metal breastplates emblazoned with the Hylian crest and chain-mail as well. The princess lent them all horses with the exception of Link who always rode on Epona, who had grown into a magnificent mare, faster and stronger than any other horse in Hyrule. With her permission, Shepherd had turned over his command to Sir Williams. He was the most competent of any of the Hylians Shepherd had trained. He was confident they would be in good hands from then on, whatever happened, he didn't think he would be returning.

The journey the next morning was thankfully uneventful. The bokoblins hadn't made it that far into Hyrule's territory. They reached the edge of the Faron woods by nightfall and had to make camp. It still wasn't wise to travel in the woods at night if they could help it, and the horses were tired. Samuels agreed to take the first watch while the rest of them bedded down for the night.

After midnight, Link was woken for his turn to stand watch. He did it without grumbling, but he always had a difficult time waking up. He sat up and tended the fire while Johnson, who had taken over after Samuels, laid down to get some sleep.

He began thinking of his mother, Saria. He wondered what she would think of the kind of man he had become. Did she know what was in store for him? Would she have been proud of him? He gazed into the embers of the fire.

Off to his left there was a motion. His senses honed in on it even as he stayed perfectly still. The leaves rustled high in the branches as a gentle breeze moved through them. He relaxed a little. The breeze moved through the trees and then turned to move past him and around him. It felt warm and friendly, it reminded him even more of Saria. The breeze brushed past his face as though it was caressing his cheek lovingly.

"Link..." He heard his name in the breeze. He looked around him. All the other men were sound asleep. "Link..." the voice said again. It sounded like a woman's voice.

"Who are you?" He said, looking around the camp, and into the trees. "Show yourself."

There was a gentle laughter, and the breeze around him moved and danced through the trees and picked up green leaves as it did so, then blew through and across the campfire and began to materialize with a greenish glowing smoke or mist. It took the shape of a woman with long hair, and kind eyes. He knew the face it was forming.

"Mother?" He asked.

She laughed lightly and reached out a misty hand to caress his face again. "Oh, my sweet, brave Link. Look at the man you've become. I'm so proud of you."

"Mother, what happened to you? Are you a ghost?" He asked.

"No, young one. I am far more than that. I have always watched over you, since the first time I chose you as my champion. I am no less proud of you today than I was then, so many eons ago." She said.

"I don't understand." He said, tears were forming in his eyes.

"Don't you? Many say my sisters and I left this world after we created it. But how could we do that? How could we leave you knowing what lay against you?" She said.

"Farore." Link said with awe. The ghostly green woman nodded.

"And I have been watching over you for all of your life, even after my mortal form fell ill. Oh, it was necessary, my brave son. You wouldn't have grown to the man you are now if I hadn't." She said.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked, angry and hurt.

"It would have been complicated, my son." She answered. "Your greatest challenge lies ahead of you, and it will take you beyond Hyrule, and beyond even Terra where these good people are from. This is the final battle, my son, and not even I can tell you how it will turn out. Up until now, the fate of Hyrule was balanced on the edge of a knife. Now, it must fall to one side or the other. It is up to you, and only you, to ensure that our world, and every world, is not destroyed. This is why you were born, my son."

"Do you know where the book Doctor McKay has been searching for is?" Link asked. He was amazed he had the presence of mind to remember it.

"It is where it has always been since the first days of Hyrule, where time and the elements cannot harm it. It will be your way back to Terra. Now you must rest, there are more challenges yet to come for you and your friends tomorrow. I love you, my Link." And with that, the leaves scattered, and the breeze travelled off.

"Good-bye, mother." Link said softly.

Link kept his experience to himself for the better part of the morning as they traveled through the forest towards the bridges which had been built to reach the sacred grove. Link was often silent on the journeys they had been with him. It was nothing new. The forest was cool, and quiet except for the occasional birdsong. A light breeze carried the smell of the trees across their path.

They reached the bridges by midday and began their long, treacherous descent into the grove. They didn't have Impa to guide them this time, but Link remembered the way through the grove. His one worry was the skull-kid. He had caused Link quite a bit of trouble in the past with his games. It never seemed to occur to the skull-kid that Link might have something better to do than to play with him. They reached the caves and tunnels which were the entrance to the grove, and all was quiet.

"It's too quiet here." Link remarked, speaking for the first time in hours.

"What do you mean?" Shepherd asked.

"There should be music." Link responded.

"Music?" Johnson asked. "Why would there be music?"

"The skull-kid likes to play games." Link said as he sat up on Epona and scanned the scene around him, listening intently. "He'll lead you through the tunnels if you follow his pipe and find him. He'll also try to kill you with his puppets."

"Who's the skull-kid?" McKay asked.

"He's the guardian of the grove. He's here to ensure no one enters who's not supposed to. He gets bored and wants to play." Link said as he looked carefully around him. It was too quiet. No wind. No birds.

"Deadly puppets, huh?" Samuels piped up. "And I thought I'd seen everything since coming here. There's always something weird to watch out for."

No music. No lantern tempting him through the tunnels. What was happening? This wasn't like the skull-kid. "Something's wrong. The skull-kid is supposed to be guarding the grove, but he's not here." Link pronounced. "We need to keep moving."

"Can you find your way without him?" Shepherd asked.

Link nodded.

They continued on. Link led them through door-like tunnel after door-like tunnel. The horses became jittery. The only sound they heard was the horses' hooves striking stone. Their senses were on edge as they strained to see or hear anything, any movement, any signs of life. Nothing was forthcoming.

As they passed through yet another tunnel, it opened onto a ruined courtyard where grass grew. In the center of the walled courtyard was a pedestal where something seemed to be draped over it. Link nudged Epona closer to inspect the sight.

"What is it?" Samuels asked.

It was a small body that had been smashed and broken like an old rag doll. At the base of the pedestal there lay a flute which had been broken in two. Link couldn't tell how long he'd been dead, but it had been at least a few days.

"It's the skull-kid." Link told them.

"What does that mean?" Samuels asked.

"It means we need to get to the temple, right now." Shepherd responded.

They all dismounted and left the horses to graze on the grass. Other than the skull-kid's lifeless form, there didn't appear to be any more immediate danger to them, and they didn't want to have to announce their presence by climbing steps with the horseshoes. They slid silently off their horses and Shepherd and the four soldiers unstrapped their P-90 rifles from their backs. Link slowly drew his sword and shield. McKay, having no talent for either drew his pistol from its holster. They all crept quietly towards the stairs and up them into the Sacred Grove.

Chapter 9 – The Stage is Set

Demise had been busy. His power was nearly complete. He had taken the city of Minas Tirith more easily than he had anticipated and had decided that it suited him far better than the Dark Tower in Mordor. The armies of Gondor had been unprepared and outmatched against his power. It was strange, he thought, the Others in this world had still not moved against him. Even now, his orcs were laying waste to this once peaceful kingdom, and the humans they didn't kill made decent slaves. Why hadn't the Others in this world moved against him? He wondered. Where were they? They were the sole reason he moved as slowly as he did. He knew now they didn't seem to want to interfere in this part of this planet, but then where were they?

He pondered this as his host sat on the white throne in the highest tower of Minas Tirith. Far below him, chained at the neck, and naked except for a loincloth the former king sat in his own filth. What was his name? Eldarion the second, ah yes, he remembered. Pitiful. He made interesting sport for his orc minions, but Demise wouldn't allow them to kill him. Not yet.

He pondered also how long it would take for his surprise to be discovered by the Hero.

The seven made their way quietly up the steps. Shepherd went first to scout it, then motioned for the others to come up. All was not well. He motioned for the others to keep quiet, but they all saw. The doors of the temple had been blown off their hinges. Only the frames still held together. All around them they could see the signs of something massive have ripped its way through the grove. Not a sound could be heard.

Shepherd motioned for Johnson and Davidson to check the far end of the ruins. A few minutes later they returned. "All clear, sir." Davidson said.

"What did you see?" Shepherd asked.

"The doors on the far end have also been damaged. There are two statues that looked like they've been shattered to pieces. The only thing that looks like it's still standing is the pedestal in what was the sanctuary. There's a sword embedded in it, kind of like the sword in the stone from the King Arthur type movies." Davidson reported.

Link looked at the doors that lay on the ground in pieces. "They were blown from the inside out." He said. "Whatever did this wasn't trying to get into the temple, it came from the inside of the temple."

"Now what?" Shepherd asked. "Link, can we still get inside the temple with just the door frame?"

Link studied it then said, "I don't know." He then turned to Davidson and said, "You said the sword is still in the pedestal, and it's undamaged?"

"Yeah, why?" The soldier replied.

"I may know someone who does know if we can still enter the temple." Link told them. "Wait here, he said. I have to do this alone."

"No way. We stick together. We all go, or no one goes." Shepherd responded. "Especially not if whatever made a mess of this place is still here."

"Alright, but no matter what happens, you cannot interfere with it, do you understand?" Link said with as much gravity as he could muster.

"Alright. Let's go." Shepherd said.

They all made their way across the ruined interior of the temple towards what had at one time been the inner sanctum. Link remembered the guardians who challenged him to solve a puzzle long before. It was their remains which Davidson saw scattered on the ground. Nothing barred their access to the sword.

Why hadn't it been damaged? Link wondered. It always had to be protected before. It couldn't actually protect itself now could it? Link ascended the stone steps to the pedestal. The others waited at the bottom. He approached the sword and stretched out his hand to it to take the hilt, as he had done so many times in the distant past.

A strangely mechanized yet lyrical voice sounded through the air and it was heard by all present, "Recognition accepted. My master accepted. Master Link, you are free to draw me from the pedestal. It has been a long time, master." The voice rang out.

"It most certainly has, far too long, Fi." Link whispered as he pulled upward on the sword. It gave way and slid easily out. Link pointed the sword skyward and a bright light flashed from the sword illuminating everything around them.

At this, an image of a strange looking young woman appeared instantly, at which Link's companions lifted their weapons. Link held out his hand for them to hold their fire and not shoot. "She won't hurt you." He called out. "She's an old and dear friend. Her name is Fi, she's the spirit of the Master Sword."

"Thank you master. I have unfortunate news to report to you. The Demon King's spirit recently escaped his captivity. I could no longer keep him bound. The Triforce of Power makes it impossible. I am sorry." Fi reported.

"We knew it would happen eventually, Fi." Link responded.

"Yes, we did." Fi replied.

"She's some kind of hologram being projected by the sword." McKay observed, whispering to no one in particular. "It definitely looks like Ancient tech."

"I was created and brought online by the goddess Hylia, whom you now know as Zelda, ten thousand years ago. I can only be wielded by the goddess' chosen Hero. No one else may dare touch me, at the risk of their own life." Fi responded.

"Right. Link, you said that she might know if we can still get into the temple with just the doorframe." Shepherd asked.

"I calculate a ninety-eight percent probability that access to the true temple's interior is still possible as long as the door frame is still fully intact." Fi responded.

"Hey, uh, Fi?" McKay began. "Hey, uh, is it possible for us to fix a jewel to the sword, one that would be very useful in defeating the Demon King?"

"Rodney," Shepherd whispered, "we just met her and you already want to mount a jewel on her?"

"Please hand the jewel in question to Master Link so that I may analyze it." Fi responded.

Rodney dug a small case out of a pocket on his thigh and opened it. Inside was a small, red diamond shaped jewel that, stepping carefully up the steps he handed to Link.

Link then showed the jewel to Fi. She looked intently at it. "I can mount it without any significant damage to it or myself. Please, what is its function?" Fi inquired.

"It's called a sangraal jewel. It neutralizes the energy wavelengths of ascended beings." McKay replied.

"You could have just said it kills evil gods, Rodney." Shepherd said.

"I understood what 'Rodney' said perfectly." Fi said. "Processing analysis. Composition unknown. Highly complex molecular structure. Not of Hylian manufacture or technology. Probability of success at stated purpose, unknown. Has it been tested previously?"

"Once, on a larger scale as a weapon of mass destruction." McKay answered. "The test was successful. This one is meant for a single target instead of many."

"Demise." Fi said.

"Yes." Link answered.

"You intend to break the cycle, Master Link?" Fi said.

"Yes, Fi. We will both finally be free of him." Link said.

"The probability of failure remains astronomical, Master Link." Fi observed.

"Hasn't it always, Fi?" Link replied.

"Please place the jewel against the cross piece of my hand guard." Fi instructed. Link followed her instructions. As soon as the jewel touched the metal it began to change and shape itself around the jewel until the Jewel was firmly and snugly embedded in the Sword. "Assimilation complete. Sangraal jewel is now fully powered and operational." Fi announced. The jewel itself glowed red on the crosspiece.

Link drew the Ordonian sword he had carried for the last six years and laid it on the ground next to the pedestal. Fi's image vanished and it appeared as though she leapt into the sword in Link's hand. Link gave the sword a wave and this placed it in the scabbard at his back.

"Ok, so now how do we open the portal to the temple?" Shepherd asked.

"Follow me." Link replied.

The seven of them walked back to the empty door frame and link drew a small flute from under his tunic. He played six notes, the same notes that he had heard Impa play so many years before. "Stand back," he said. The door frame shimmered and then a familiar, water like image appeared in front of them. "That's some tune." Shepherd remarked. "Zelda's lullaby." Link said.

Link replaced the flute under his tunic, drew the Master Sword once more, raised his shield and stepped through the portal. The others followed suit.

Inside, the temple was still a golden glow, but something had gone terribly wrong. Stone benches were smashed. Pots were shattered. The gateway through which they had traveled lay on it's face on the floor, having been wrenched from its hiding place. In front of it lay the body of an old woman in a pool of blood.

Link replaced his sword and shield on his back and quickly ran down to her. "Impa!" he called out.

He lifted her aged head. Her neck was still supple. "Secure the area!" Shepherd called out, and he and his men began to circle around the chamber.

Link cradled Impa's head in his arms and she weakly opened her eyes, "Hero?" She said in a fading, aged voice.

"Yes, your grace, I'm here now. We've got to get you out of here and get you some help." He said to her, searching her body for her wound. It was right across her midsection, a nasty gash torn into her side by some foul claw. It continued to bleed profusely.

"No, Hero. Link, you cannot move me from here. If you move me from this place I will die. Time and the elements have no meaning here. If I enter normal time, I will die with this wound." Impa said slowly. "It was the Demon King." She wheezed. "He finally broke free. I'm not sure how long ago." Each word brought her pain as she tried to speak them. "He wanted you to find this place, and me, like this. He wanted to me to remain in pain unable to die. He didn't want to leave one of his minions for you because he wanted to meet you himself one last time. He's waiting for you in Middle-Earth."

Shepherd came up to Link and saw Impa's wound. His eyes went wide with rage. "My god," he said. "If you don't kill him, Link, I will." He then met the old woman's eyes, "Is there anything we can do for her?" He asked, knowing what a normal answer would be. But Hyrule wasn't a normal world, and had a way of throwing things at you sideways that you didn't expect.

Link looked up at him in anguish, and then remembered, "Fairy's Tears!" He practically shouted.

"Yeah, what about them?" Shepherd asked.

"I have some!" Link felt under his chain-mail for a small bottle. "I won them for rescuing a Great Fairy a few years ago." He brought the bottle out, it glowed with a pink light which sparkled. He thought of his mother, and realized that Farore had blessed him with the chance he hadn't been given with Saria. "Here, Impa take this." He held the vial up to her lips and she drank.

Immediately, Impa's wound began to close and she looked as though she was glowing herself. Shepherd even thought she may have been getting younger! She blinked her eyes and sat up.

"That was a precious gift to give me, Hero." She said, her voice stronger, much stronger than any of them had ever heard it.

"Hyrule could not afford to lose you, Impa." Link said.

McKay had circled back to see Impa standing up and in better health than he was. "How in the world?" He said.

"Magic." Link responded.

"If you want to play the game, you have to learn the rules." McKay muttered grudgingly.

"Wise words." Impa said.

"Yeah, um, we're secure here, John. There's nothing else here. The gate looks toast though." McKay said.

"Great, now what?" Shepherd said.

Just then, Link remembered the night before, and his mother. "Impa, Farore came to me last night and told me that there was a book which was kept where time and the elements couldn't touch it. Do you know where it is?"

"There are many books here in this place." Impa responded.

"Books? Where?" McKay asked excitedly.

"In the library of the temple of course." Impa responded impatiently.

"Is there a linking book there?" Mckay then caught himself and began to explain further, "is there a book that described another world with a panel in the back of it like a window that shows you the world?"

"Yes, there are many like that. They describe and show many worlds." Impa responded.

"Can you take us there, your grace?" Link asked her, respectfully.

Impa eyed all of them thoughtfully, and then said, "of course, follow me, and don't veer from my path. The temple of time holds many wonders, and dangers."

They followed her as she ascended the steps of the temple. As she passed hallway and room she lightly disarmed traps, snares, and guardians to allow them to pass. Link didn't remember it being that easy the last time he had been made to explore this temple.

Finally, several floors up, they reached a room which was lined from floor to ceiling with books. "In here," she motioned them all in.

"There's something very familiar about this room." Link said. "I feel like I've been here before."

"There is something very 'D'ni'ish about it, isn't there?" Shepherd said.

Impa led them over to a shelf of books with names written neatly in a flowing script on their spines. They looked as if they had just been printed and bound yesterday. There was no dust or age on them to be seen.

"We're looking for a 'book of Earth' or 'book of Terra'." McKay said.

"The Book of Terra?" Impa said, "why that one?"

"It's hard to explain, but these books act like gateways if you press your hand to the panel in the back. They draw you in and transport you to that world." McKay responded.

"I know what these books are, Doctor McKay. Do you think I've spent thousands of years here just sitting and looking important?" Impa replied. "I can read the ancient writing. I was asking why you want the Book of Terra when Demise is in Mudora."

Rodney was taken aback by that. "Oh. Okay, well... um..."

"Wait a second, I thought he was in Middle Earth?" Shepherd said.

"Mudora is the ancient term for Middle Earth, Colonel Shepherd. You will also need a book to return here to Hyrule." She said as she plucked two volumes from the shelf and handed them to Shepherd.

"Hang on." McKay then said, absolutely irate. "The linking book was here the entire time, and you didn't bother to tell us about it? We could have gone home six years ago!"

"You weren't ready for it, and travel through time is easy for this place." Impa replied sagely. "We will discuss your return home when you return here; if you return. I hedge my bets, you might say, in protecting my world. Wouldn't you do the same?"

Shepherd didn't know if he wanted to smile at or hit the old lady. He then thought of all the technology which they had introduced to Hyrule for the very same reason, and decided he understood her very well.

"Alright, we go to Middle Earth then. Johnson, Davidson, Billings, Samuels, you guys in?" Shepherd asked.

"All the way, sir. We've never backed down yet." They responded.

"Rodney, are you good with this?" Shepherd asked.

Rodney still looked extremely annoyed, but then said, "yeah, I'm fine. I'm good to go."

Shepherd looked at Link and didn't have to ask. His eyes told him everything. Either Demise was going down, or Link was. Either way, it would be over.

"Good luck." Impa said.

"Look after Epona?" Link said.

"Of course, and the other horses as well." She replied.

Shepherd tucked the small return book into a pocket on his thigh. The seven men held hands and Link touched the back panel of the Book of Mudora. The seven men transformed to pure energy and were drawn into the window of the book.

"May the three goddesses go with you. Nayru grant them your Wisdom, Din grant them your power, Farore grant them your courage." Impa whispered as a prayer.

She then took the Book of Mudora with her as she descended the stairs again. She could now afford to leave the temple for a short time. The Fairy's Tears had given her all the strength she would need. The horses would need to be returned to Hyrule castle, and the seven companions would need all the help she could give them. "I always hedge my bets," she said to herself, "it is time I paid my Lady a visit once more."

Chapter 10 - Middle-Earth

"Where do you think we are?" Shepherd asked McKay. They had materialized in a grove of tall, stately ancient trees. It felt peaceful around them, and left them all with just a good feeling of well-being. At first, Link had thought something had gone wrong and they had materialized somewhere in Faron woods, but the woods of his homeland never looked this beautiful or well kept. McKay looked around him, up and down, this way and that and said, "Hang on a minute, let me just get my bearings."

The soldiers brought their guns up as a precaution, but the woods around them appeared to be empty, and almost as though it had been sleeping for some time. "I'm not sure," McKay said. "It's been a long time since I read 'The Lord of the Rings'." He then asked, "didn't you ever read it?"

"I saw the movies. They were cool." Shepherd responded. "Ok, well it doesn't look exactly like the movies but if I were to guess, I'd say we were in Lothlorien."

"Oh, and why is that?" McKay asked.

"Look up, Rodney." Shepherd pointed up. High in the trees could be seen platforms where wooden structures had been built... no, grown into the trees around them. There were standing at the forest floor base of a great city high in the trees.

"Oh, wow." Rodney remarked. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before.

"Uh, I saw that movie, too, Colonel and weren't there supposed to be elves in Lothlorien?" Davidson asked.

"Yes, there were." Shepherd responded. "So where's the welcome party?" Then looking up he asked another question, "Ok, there's a city high in the trees, but no movement. There's no people that we can see anywhere."

"You know this place?" Link asked. "You've been here before?"

"Sort of. Yes and no. No we haven't been here before, but yes we know a little about it, just like we knew a little about Hyrule." Shepherd said. "We know of its stories at any rate."

Link nodded his understanding. Then looked up towards the trees again, and then down across their bases. "I hear and see no one. This place looks like it was abandoned a long time ago."

"Rodney, is that possible?" Shepherd asked.

"Uh, let me think, it's been a long time. Let's see, the elves were leaving Middle-Earth for Valinor during the 'Lord of the Rings', so we may have come after they've all abandoned Lothlorien. Let's see, Galadriel, Elrond, Celeborn, and Gandalf would have all left within a few years after Sauron's fall. I'm not sure what would have happened to the Elven lands except that they couldn't maintain them after the power of the three elven rings failed."

"Ok," Shepherd reasoned, "so we've arrived years after the return of the king, right?"

"I'm pretty sure, yeah." McKay said. "Wait a second, there may be at least one way to determine how much longer after." He then said.

"Oh, and what's that?" Shepherd said.

"Come with me, if I'm right, it shouldn't be far." McKay responded. "It's something you'd only know about from reading the appendix in the back of the book."

They marched for a couple of hours towards what McKay thought should be the center of the woods. They had arrived in the morning by their best guess, and it proved to be the correct one as the sun rose high overhead and its light was broken up playfully by the high canopy of the trees.

There in the center was a mound, like a small hill where a tree grew in the center. A platform was built high up in its branches, and another wood structure, like a small house. McKay wasn't sure what he'd find when he found what he was looking for.

"Ok, spread out. You'll know when you find her. I think, anyway." McKay said.

"Find who?" Shepherd said.

"Arwen." McKay said. "In the appendix, it talks about after Aragorn's death, Arwen returned to Lothlorien, to Cerin Amroth, this mound, where she died before the following spring. If we find her, we might be able to tell roughly how much time has passed."

"Ugh." Shepherd said. "So are we looking for an old woman, a corpse, or bones?"

"As I said, we'll know it when we find it."

"Doctor," Link said. "I think I've found her, or what's left of her." He wasn't that far from them, and was bending down inspecting something on the ground.

McKay came over to look at what the Hylian had found. On the ground, half buried was a skull. All the flesh had long since rotted away and it was clean and dry. The skull looked mostly human, but there were slight differences. It looked more refined somehow. Around the crown of the skull lay a circlet of silver, set with a diamond. It was the diadem of a queen.

"So, it's been a long time then." Shepherd said when he saw it.

"A very long time." McKay agreed. "Aragorn reigned for a hundred and twenty years after he took the throne. She came here right after he died, so I'd say at least a couple of hundred years have gone by."

"Ok, so where do we go from here? How do we find Demise?" Shepherd questioned.

"If he's at full strength, the land will be under attack. He'll strike the heart of this land, its capital city, to demonstrate his power over it. He will make no pretense at hiding it." Link said.

"Its capital city. Wouldn't that be, uh..." Shepherd snapped his fingers twice, "the white city..."

"Minas Tirith." McKay supplied.

"Minas Tirith. How far are we from there? Didn't that take weeks for Aragorn and his friends to get there?" Shepherd asked in frustration.

"Let me think." McKay said. "They didn't take the straight path there. They got side-tracked going after the hobbits. They took boats down the river which could have taken them straight there if they had let it."

"Ok, follow the river, that's a start. What river?" Shepherd asked.

"Ok, there's a river that runs straight through Lorien called the Nimrodel, and then it meets up with the Great River called the Anduin. Think Mississippi great. The Anduin heads south over the falls of Rauros and down through the city of Osgiliath which faces opposite Minas Tirith." McKay said.

"How far?" Shepherd asked. "And what was that about falls?"

"About four or five hundred miles or so," McKay answered. "The falls of Rauros. There's supposed to be a passage of some kind that would let people carry small boats down by hand carved next to them."

There was a light breeze that blew through the trees just then causing their leaves to rustle gently. Link noticed it and looked up into the trees, but saw nothing. "How far are we from this river Nimrodel," he asked.

"We shouldn't be far at all." McKay said. "If we head south we should run directly into it." He said.

"You don't suppose there might be boats still there after all this time, do you?" Samuels, who had been quiet while the others talked, suggested.

"Normally, I'd say no," McKay said, "but it's worth a look."

The party then marched in the direction of the river. It took another hour or so, but they reached it in the late afternoon. It was flowing gently but swiftly. They did indeed find small boats, and upon further searching a larger boat that had been pulled up and had sat on the shore in storage for some time. After looking it over, they couldn't find any sign of wear or rot on it. They took a quick rest and ate some rations they had brought with them in their packs. They ate warily not knowing what to expect.

Link, more than anyone, knew the Demon King's way of operating. It was strange that he hadn't had anything here waiting for them, unless he didn't know they would turn up in this place. If that was the case, then it was a strange piece of luck, but a welcome one. "I don't think he knows we're here, or where we are." Link said.

"I thought he could do all sorts of spying with his magic. Shouldn't he have shown up in the same place as we did?" Shepherd said.

"I would have thought. But his normal way of doing things is to leave something behind to try and kill me. As you said, where is the welcome party?" Link said.

"Hmm. Rodney, will two different linking books take you to two different locations in the same world?" Shepherd asked.

"No, at least I don't think so. I mean, I suppose it's possible, but it doesn't fit with what I've read on them." McKay said as he polished off some dried fruit.

"Could someone have interfered with us linking here? Redirected us away from the original target destination?" Shepherd asked.

"I don't know enough about it." McKay said. "Stargates go from gate to gate. Sure, it's possible to jump a wormhole from one gate to another, but there isn't a target gate when you're using a D'ni book. I'd think you'd have to rewrite the linking book, and then you might change the world you link to altogether."

It was a puzzle they'd have to figure out.

When they finished eating they worked on turning the larger boat right side up and putting into the water. It wasn't nearly as heavy as they thought it would be and when they righted it, they found packages tied neatly into the bottom of it with cord. Upon searching them, they found lengths of rope, and some kind of wafer bread that somehow still seemed fresh, though it had to be far older than they were.

"Lembas," McKay said looking at it. "Elven waybread."

"You don't think it could still be edible do you?" Shepherd asked.

McKay broke a tiny corner off of one of the wafers and popped it in his mouth. "I'd say... yeah. It's as fresh as if it was baked yesterday." He said as he broke off another piece.

"Hey doc, wasn't a single bite of that supposed to hold a full grown man for a full day?" Davidson asked.

"Yes, well... I was just testing it." McKay said uncomfortably as he wrapped the rest of the Lembas up and returned it to the wrapped supplies

"You don't suppose someone could have put this here for us to find, do you?" Shepherd said out loud what they were all thinking. It seemed a little too convenient.

"How? The only person who knew at least Link would be coming here would be Demise. I doubt he'd try and give us a lift to come and fight him." McKay said.

A warm breeze rustled through the leaves of the trees overhead. Only Link seemed to have noticed.

"Where is he?" Demise wondered aloud to himself. Is it possible he didn't find a way into this world? Could his old adversary really have failed to find a way to reach him after all these years? His host paced the throne room atop Minas Tirith back and forth. There was no one else there with him except the fallen king, passed out on the floor. He needed no guards, and neither did he want them.

He had materialized almost immediately in the blackened land known as Mordor. The linking book should have brought the Hero to the same location. Demise had a nice little pet waiting for him. Oddly enough, she was already here; a relic from this world's more interesting past. His orc followers called her "Shelob", and she was very hungry. But he had received no word from his scouts or spies about a green clad boy.

If it was one thing he could always count on it would be the Hero's persistence. He had come to trust it, even count on it. Had Demise's faith in the boy hero been misplaced? It had never occurred to him that the Hero wouldn't make it this far. How inconsiderate to make Demise return to Hyrule to destroy him. That just simply didn't fit, but then where was he?

He snapped his taloned fingers and a murder of crows appeared before him. "You will be my eyes." He said. "Go," he commanded. "Fly throughout this land, and go where my orcs dare not. Find me a boy of either ten or sixteen years wearing green and carrying a bright sword and shield." The crows departed out through the doorway and into the twilit sky of evening.

"Twilight." He mused. That was a clever campaign, he reminisced. "Too bad my host didn't make it. It was a mutually beneficial relationship." He looked at the back of his host's right hand where a mark of three triangles had been tattooed. One of them gave a soft golden reflection of the dim light.

They set the boat in the water, climbed in and set off down the Nimrodel. There were four oars in the boat, although they only needed two most of the time. The boat seemed to move almost under it's own power, and the rowing wasn't as tiring as it probably should be. They debated about whether or not they should stop and go ashore for rest periods, but decided against it. They needed to get to the white city as quickly as possible. They were surrounded by water, and they had enough food that didn't need to be cooked for a long journey already provisioned in the boat. They took shifts rowing and resting and decided to only pull to shore once a day if they needed to relieve themselves and couldn't do it from the boat.

They met up with the Anduin around the middle of the first night. McKay was right, it was at least as wide as the Mississippi as far as Shepherd could see by the full moonlight. He knew Link must be somewhat impressed because there were no rivers that wide in Hyrule, but the boy's face was impassive.

"Hey, you okay?" Shepherd asked him. "It's wide, but it's still pretty calm for the most part."

"It's not the river. I've been on boats and rafts much smaller and less sturdy than this." Link responded.

"Right." Shepherd said, not knowing what to say.

"If we succeed," Link continued, "what will happen then? What will my purpose in this life be?"

"Well, anything you want. You could go back and serve the Princess, or possibly even go home to Ordon and be a goat-herd if you really wanted. Your options are pretty open." Shepherd said.

"Are they really?" Link asked.

"What is it you want to do?" Shepherd asked.

"I don't know. I've never been given the choice before." Link responded thoughtfully.

"It's not like there won't be any more bad guys to fight. Hyrule will still need its best to defend it." Shepherd told him.

"How do you know that?" Link asked.

"One thing I've learned, Link, is that there's always more bad guys that keep popping up." Shepherd began. "Look at us from Earth. At first we had to deal with the Goa'uld. Then, once we thought we had them under control it was the replicators, after that it was the Ori, then the Wraith, then more replicators. Along the way we've had the Lucian Alliance and a few other surprises thrown at us. It never seems to end, and we don't have the excuse of a Demon King constantly trying to come back. Even this world of Middle-Earth had Sauron, Saruman, Orcs, dragons, the Nazgul; my point is that there's always going to be somebody trying to make trouble and squash on the little guy. That's were those of us who can have to step up and stop them."

Link dwelt on this thoughtfully. "You speak wise words." He finally said. "Perhaps the spirit of the Hero will continue long after I am gone after all."

Shepherd then realized what he had been talking about all along. It wasn't just the kid in front of him he had grown to like, it was the whole reincarnation of the Hero thing that was making him so pensive and moody. Without the Demon King, the Hero might no longer be needed. On Earth it might mean no more cool video games. In Hyrule, it would mean a radical change in the course of their history and beliefs. It was a profound thought.

The seven companions continued on down the Anduin, pulling ashore once during the middle of the day and getting as quickly under the trees by the river as they could. They didn't want to be without cover on the ground, even if no one knew they were there. They took care of their business as fast as they could and then climbed back in and continued down the river. They ate in the boat from their Hylian rations, and when these were spent, they started sampling the Lembas bread. They spent the next few days like this.

On the fourth day they saw as impressive of a sight as they had ever seen. Two massive stone statues of kings on opposite sides of the river, at least a hundred feet tall, with one arm outstretched as though trying to warn people off. "Ok, this is where we need to pull our boat to the west side of the shore and look for the stairway down. We're coming up to the Falls of Rauros." McKay told the rest.

"That's quite the warning sign," remarked Samuels.

Overhead, a crow circled in the air, looking at them curiously. Link spotted it and drew the bow he had been carrying. He knocked an arrow and let it fly. The crow dropped from the air like a stone and landed with a small, hard splash in the water, followed by a puff of blackish smoke, though it wasn't noticeable.

"Nice shot, but what did the crow do to you?" Shepherd asked.

"Crows can be the Demon King's spies. Better to be safe than sorry." Link told him.

They paddled to the western shore and pulled the boat out of the water. It was remarkably light, even with the extra weight of the provisions and the oars. The seven of them would have no trouble carrying it. Link went ahead along the edge of the waterfall as a scout to find the path to the stair. "You want me to go with him, sir?" Billings asked.

"No, he'll be fine. I'm pretty sure he can take care of himself." Shepherd told him.

The falls were amazing to Link's eyes. The power and the noise of the water was nothing short of awesome. This whole world seemed more... intense and alive. Not seeing any path big enough to haul a boat through right next to the edge, and certainly no stairway to bring it down, Link explored away from the falls a little.

"Master Link," Fi's image emerged, "I detect creatures approaching. I have never encountered creatures of this type before. They are giving off a dark energy. I calculate there is a ninety-five percent chance they are hostile."

"How many?" Link asked.

"Two that I can detect. They are approaching from a wide path to your southwest. My calculations indicate they are not aware of your presence." She said, then disappeared back into the sword, which Link then quietly drew as he crept southwest towards the path he had been searching for.

He watched the path silently through some bushes that his green tunic blended in with very well. A few minutes passed and the creatures came into view marching in lockstep along the road. Fi was correct, there were only two of them. They were large and muscular with jet black skin, small cruel eyes and yellow fangs. They wore armor and carried long swords with sharp hooks at the end. They both had heavy shields. Link had never seen an orc before, but they looked far more intimidating than the bokoblins had been. One of them carried a horn on a strap around his neck. They were heading in the direction of Colonel Shepherd and his team.

Link quietly waited until the orcs had passed, then crept out of the bushes behind them. His mind and his body remembered how to dispatch them with ease and silently. With practically no sound, he crept up behind them and spun his sword with all the power he could muster, aiming for the backs of their heads, which were unarmored. The orcs fell with a clank of their armor.

Link waited a few minutes for them to disappear in a puff of smoke like they always did. He continued to wait. The bodies remained. A black pool of blood collected under them. Link then looked at his sword blade and discovered that it was sprayed with a black fluid. These weren't creatures of magic, he realized. The Demon King was using real beings for his soldiers.

He wiped his blade in the bushes to the side of the road, then he dragged both corpses into the bushes as well. They were ridiculously heavy. He searched the bodies for anything useful, but found nothing. Satisfied they had no companions who would be coming along shortly, Link returned to his party by way of the road he had found.

"The road for the stair is there," he reported. "There were two orcs patrolling it. I took care of them. They didn't vanish, so I hid the bodies in the bushes." Link said this with disgust.

The rest of them looked at him oddly. "They didn't vanish?" Shepherd asked. "Why would they?"

"The Demon King usually uses creatures created from his own dark magic. Every time I've killed them before they simply explode in black smoke and disappear. These orcs didn't. He's now using real living beings as his soldiers." Link explained.

"Well, let me ease your mind a little about it. Every one of those orcs, in this world, is a creature of darkness. They may bleed like everyone else, but there's nothing good left in them. They fight amongst themselves, and they'll eat each other if they get the chance." Shepherd told him.

Link nodded. "I've never had to deal with the bodies before."

"Welcome to our world." Shepherd replied.

McKay looked pensive. "He's never used real beings before?"

"No, not really." Link said.

McKay became lost in thought as he worked with the others.

Chapter 11 – Playing Poker

There were two other small orc patrols guarding the stair, the companions discovered. They were dispatched quickly with well aimed arrows from Link. Shepherd didn't want any of his team to use their guns and ammunition yet. They would have no way of replacing it, and without silencers the noise the weapons would make would be announcing to the whole of Middle Earth where they were. Billings and Davidson searched the orcs' outpost and bodies but found nothing useful. Even their rations looked spoiled and inedible.

They got the boat safely back into the water at the bottom of the falls and climbed back in. "Ok, we're now in enemy territory," Shepherd observed. "Eyes open."

The woods which had given them some cover before had given way to open plains and fields along this stretch of the Anduin. They could see for miles, and they were certain they could be seen just as easily, but there was no other way to get to their objective quickly. After the first day in from the falls, Shepherd became more tense. The sky above them was covered in thick black clouds that the sun couldn't seem to penetrate. In the distance they could see fires that had been lit on both sides of the river.

He voiced his concerns, "Someone's going to missing those troops we took out back at the stair. They should have been expected to report by now, I would imagine. I'd expect it, anyway." Shepherd said.

"You think those fires could be friendlies, sir?" Johnson asked.

"I doubt it." Shepherd said.

"There sure are lots of them." Johnson replied.

"Let's just hope the darkness gives us some cover out here on the water." Shepherd said.

High up in the sky, but out of their sight, a crow followed them for a distance then flew off towards the south and west.

Demise watched the little boat through the eyes of his spy. He could see the flash of green which one of the members of the little party had worn, but he couldn't see much else from that height. Could it be the Hero? And if it was, who were the men who were with him? He pondered this and the loss of one of his crows back at the upper parts of the Anduin. That crow hadn't seen anything but the arrow which felled it.

"My lord," a rasping voice addressed him from behind. He turned to see one of his lieutenants, Giliwog.

"Report." Demise ordered.

"We've lost contact with our outpost at the foot of the Falls of Rauros. They haven't reported in for the last day." Giliwog reported.

Demise digested this news carefully.

"Should we send a scout to check on them, my lord?" Giliwog asked.

"No," Demise decided. "No, I have a good idea as to what befell them. Send another platoon to take their place and clean up the mess."

"Yes, my lord." Giliwog replied obediently.

"And summon two legions to assemble on the west bank of the Anduin north of Osgiliath. I believe we're going to have visitors, and I want to welcome them properly. Give instructions that the green clad boy is not to be killed under any circumstances. He is to be left to me. They can do what they wish with the others." Demise instructed.

"Yes, my lord." Giliwog said, then backed away to carry out his orders.

Demise watched him go. He could feel the large orc's belief in him radiating out. It energized him.

Around the middle of the second day on the water, the darkness had grown more intense. They could see a city on the water from a distance. Fires burned bright around it.

"Do you think it could still be...?" McKay asked.

"You read the book, and I saw the movie. Look at the sky Rodney. We're not going to get a warm reception at Osgiliath. We're going to have to try and go to shore and make our way overland across the fields."

"Right. Of course." McKay replied.

They rowed to the west bank of the river and pulled the boat up on to the shore. The men who had them drew their guns and the seven of them began their survey of the landscape in front of them. In the distance, they could see the outline of mountains where what looked like a large white structure had been carved into the side. That was their objective. But there was a snag they hadn't expected.

"Holy crap." McKay exclaimed. In front of them were what looked like thousands of huge orcs in armor, standing in lined formation, facing them. They were just standing there, waiting. The seven had no cover to speak of, they all hit the ground as soon as they saw them and prayed to whoever was listening that they themselves hadn't been seen.

"Greetings Hero!" A rasping voice boomed out from across the fields. "I've been expecting you for some time. I'll have to admit I thought you'd be here sooner than this, but better late than never. And you brought friends to the party. How nice."

"The Demon King." Link said.

"Can he see us?" Shepherd asked.

"I don't know. Probably." Link responded.

"Oh, of course I can see you, and hear you quite well." Demise's host's voice boomed across the fields. "You might as well stand up and stop groveling in the dirt, unless of course you prefer it there."

They stood up to face the host of orcs in front of them, and their unseen master. Their weapons were raised. Link unsheathed the Master Sword and hefted his shield.

"Are you afraid to face me yourself?" Link shouted.

"I could ask the same of you. This is the first time you've brought friends. But no, these orcs aren't for you, Hero. They're here to entertain your friends while we get on with the business at hand." The voice boomed.

At this the orcs began marching towards the river. "I will see you shortly, Hero of Hyrule." The voice faded off.

"Great, now what." McKay asked.

"Wait until they're close enough for us to see their eyes. Make every shot count. When we run out of clips and bullets, we draw swords." Shepherd said, eyeing the approaching army. "Let's hope that armor isn't bullet proof."

The orcs marched closer and closer, weapons out. Finally Shepherd called out, "now!" And they let loose with gunfire. Row after row of orcs went down, and row after row orcs stepped up to take their place.

"What's going on?" Shepherd shouted. "I thought they would have cut and run by now! They were never this disciplined in the movie!"

"How should I know?!" McKay shouted back.

Link was next to them firing arrow after arrow. Not a single shot missed its target as he found the chinks in every orc's armor he aimed at.

Finally, the bullets were all spent. Link's arrows were exhausted and they still kept coming.

"It was good knowing you all." McKay said. Shepherd gave him a look, and then nodded.

"It will be better knowing you after all this is done." Link said, and then, Master Sword and Hylian shield in his hands, he charged the orc lines. Orc after orc fell to his blade as he slashed, spun, jumped, ducked, and stabbed. Before his companions knew it, he had carved a pathway deep through the orc ranks and sent them into total chaos.

"Well, are we going to let him have all the fun?!" Shepherd shouted.

"NO, SIR! Johnson shouted and, sword in hand charged the orcs himself, followed by Shepherd, McKay, Billings, Davidson, and Samuels.

They fought and fought. Each swing of the sword brought death, and they had to keep well away from each other because they no longer paid attention to where their sword blows were landing. But they knew it wouldn't be enough.

Then, in the distance a horn sounded. It was a familiar, welcome sound, though Shepherd had no idea where it came from. It was a Hylian horn, a call to battle. It was one he had taught his men. Then he heard, or more felt the rumbling on the ground. It was the rumbling of horses; hundreds of horses at least. Then there were gunshots, and orcs started falling seemingly for no reason.

Shepherd was able to get a glimpse of what was happening and it was the most beautiful sight by far that he had seen since coming into this world. So beautiful, he almost cried. Hundreds of men in bright shining armor wearing the Hylian crest. It was the Hylian cavalry, and they were charging the orcs, firing into them with McKay's rifles and riding them down with their hooves.

The orcs began breaking their ranks and turned to meet the new threat with pikes, but the cavalry was too well trained to ride into them. They pulled up their horses and began laying down a hail of bullets into the pikemen. In very little time, they were no longer a threat.

Link hadn't see any of it. He was too focused on getting to his own meeting. Orc after orc fell under his blade, and they all ran from him, not daring to fight back. He almost pitied them. Almost.

He had reached the other side of their legions and was staring at open field. Minas Tirith loomed before him. And he began his own long march towards the white city.

Then a black void appeared before him and it became a vortex. A lone figure emerged from it. The figure was tall, muscular, well armored, and imposing. It was an orc with flaming red hair that really seemed to be on fire. It carried two massive swords, one in each hand.

"Greetings, boy." The orc said.

"I see you've found another willing host." Link replied.

"Indeed." The orc remarked. "I regret this will be our last battle."

"Yes, it will." Link agreed. "So then let's end it. Now." The red jewel glowed brightly in the hilt of the Master Sword.

"So eager to die?" The orc asked.

"Eager to be done with this." Link responded, and lunged, jumping high into the air and brought his sword down towards the orc's head. As the blade came down in froze in mid-air, along with the rest of Link.

"Typical." The orc said. "You always were a little slow on the uptake." He calmly walked out from under the blow which should have cleaved him from head to hindquarters and stepped to the side. "You can do better," he whispered in Link's ear. He then snapped his fingers and Link fell to the ground.

Link sprang to his feet again, shield and sword up and ready. "How?" He asked.

The orc didn't disappoint him, "oh, that's right, you don't really understand how this works, do you?" He gloated. "I am ancient, boy. I existed before Hyrule. Funny, no real being in Hyrule had any true faith in me, but here..." he swept his hand to indicate all the land in front of them, "here I have found followers in abundance who have surrendered to me their complete will and devotion. I am more powerful now than all of Hyrule's so called gods put together. There is nothing you can do, little Hero."

Link attempted to swipe at the orc's arm but the orc vanished and then reappeared behind him. He gave Link a shove in the back with his bare, taloned foot, knocking him to the ground. "Now that wasn't nice, was it?" The orc said.

Link sprang back to his feet to face him. "So you're just going to use magic tricks? Are you afraid to face me in real combat? Or are those swords just for show?"

The orc twisted his lips into a cruel smile, "in time, when I'm ready to kill you properly," he said.

Link then held out his sword and spun with it towards the creature in front of him. The orc thrust down a sword and blocked the full energy of the swing easily as though Link had only been trying to tap it.

"Haven't you anything better than that?" The orc asked. "I'm getting rather bored. I had hoped to enjoy this more."

Link thought for a moment, he didn't know if it would get through, but it was worth a try. He raised the point of the Master Sword high in the air and it began to glow with a radiant light. He then swung it down violently towards the orc. A blaze of light shot forth from the sword and struck the orc full in the chest. Knocking him to the ground. Link then took full advantage of it and leapt high into the air and plunged the tip of his blade through the orc's armor and into his chest.

The orc's eyes went wide, "how?!" Then light began to pour forth from them as the sangraal jewel flashed in its mount and activated. "Nooooo!" The orc cried out. The orc exploded in a radiant ball of bright light and Link was thrown backwards from the force of it. He landed several yards away knocked unconscious.

In the distance, Shepherd saw a bright white flash of light burst forth accompanied by a mushroom cloud. The orcs all around him panicked and ran. "Game over." Shepherd said quietly.

Chapter 12 - Endings

Link was standing in the middle of a cool green forest. Sunlight played and danced among the breaks in the leaves and fell dappled onto the brown, mossy forest floor. Light laughter swam around him, dancing this way and that.

"My dear, sweet, brave boy, Link," a familiar maternal voice said warmly.

"Mother?" He asked into the air, and then added, "Farore?"

The leaves from the trees flew off and spun in a whirlwind before him forming the the shape and image of a woman he knew well.

"My dear boy, I'm so proud of you." The woman said, her glowing eyes radiating that pride towards him.

"Is it over, mother? Is he gone?" Link asked, timidly.

"The cycle is broken. Demise is no more. You, Zelda, and all of Hyrule are finally free. The Triforce has been been restored and has returned complete to the Temple of Time." The woman said brightly.

"Free." Link said. "What will I do now, mother?"

"Anything you want to, my sweet son. Anything you want to." She said.

"Even if all I want to do is herd goats?" Link asked.

"Then you will be the best goat herd in all of Hyrule, and I wouldn't be any less proud of you than I am now." The woman said.

"What about the Hero?" Link asked.

"It is time for the Hero to finally be allowed to rest." She said, somewhat sadly. "He has served us, all of us, and we, even the gods, owe him greatly."

"Mother," Link began to ask, "who took Zelda from Hyrule when all this started and sent her to Earth?"

"I did." Farore responded. "Din, Nayru, and I decided it was time we ended this cycle once and for all. Hylia and the Hero defended Hyrule for millenia while we did little to help. We thought it was for the best during those years."

"What changed?" Link asked.

"Hyrule couldn't grow while the cycle continued. And we foresaw that if we allowed it to continue any longer, then our brother would eventually gain the upper hand, as he very nearly did this time. If that happened, everything we tried to build would have been lost forever. We couldn't allow that to happen." Farore told him.

Link nodded, understanding. "Will I see you again?" He asked.

"I will always be watching over you, my little Link. You have my word." With that, she vanished.

Look stood there in silence.

"I think he's coming around." A voice said. It was a familiar friendly voice.

Link opened his eyes to see Shepherd staring down at him. He was lying on a bed in a large room. His tunic and chain mail had been pulled off of him and what wounds he had were bandaged neatly.

"What happened? Where am I?" Link asked.

"You're in Minas Tirith, in the hospital quarters, or what they call the 'houses of healing'." Shepherd said. "We've been having a Hylian field medic tend your wounds. How're you feeling?"

"Strong enough. What happened to Demise?" Link asked.

"We thought you could tell us. From a distance all we could see was what looked like a small nuke going off. When we got to you, you were lying on the ground unconscious. There was no sign of anything else but a big smoking crater," he then held up something in his hand and gave it to Link, "and this."

Link turned the object over in his hand. It was the hilt of the Master Sword. The blade had been completely obliterated. Link pressed the hilt to his chest and said quietly, "Oh, Fi."

"Master Link," a disembodied voice said weakly.

"Fi?" Link asked.

"I regret to inform you that I am no longer able to perform my primary function, master Link," Fi said.

"That's okay, Fi. You can rest now. We both can." Link said.

"So, Demise is dead, right?" Shepherd asked.

"Yeah, I think so." Link said.

"Affirmative, master Link. Demise's energy was weakened by the skyward strike you delivered. The skyward strike was influenced by the foreign sangraal jewel. His energy signature was completely canceled out upon full internal contact with my blade. I detected no trace of his energy signature after the explosion. I calculate a ninety-nine point nine nine percent chance that he is completely terminated." Fi gave her report of the events.

"It's over then." Shepherd said.

"It's over." Link agreed.

Fi went silent as Link gripped the hilt tightly to his chest. "Good bye, old friend. Rest well." He said.

"Now what happens?" Link asked.

"Now, we rest and recover." Shepherd said, "Sir Williams brought the third cavalry division through the linking book. From what he told me, Impa left for Hyrule castle right after she sent us through the book and told Zelda what was happening. She immediately sent out Williams and his men to help us. They landed in Lorien wondering where to go next when, according to him, they met a weird woman with green hair who cast a spell that immediately sent them within riding distance of the Pelennor fields where we happened to be. Convenient, huh?"

"Farore's Wind." Link said.

"What was that?" Shepherd asked.

"'Farore's Wind', that's the name of the spell. It's a special blessing bestowed by the goddess." Link said.

"Well, anyway, they mowed through the orcs on the field and broke their lines, then, when the explosion happened the orcs all started to make a run for it. We picked them off pretty easy after that. Minas Tirith was practically empty except for a few guards and a few thousand people in chains. We found the king chained up in the throne room. Our men started treating the injured as soon as they could. It'll take a while, but it'll stabilize. We've had trouble communicating with the locals, but they seem to understand that we're here to help. The king's been pretty traumatized by the whole thing, but he seems like a strong man, so I think he'll pull through." Shepherd explained. "Sir Williams has already sent messengers back through the linking book to inform Hyrule Castle of what's happened and they've responded by sending supplies and men to help Gondor get back on its feet. The Third's to remain here for the time being until Gondor is stabilized and we're certain the threat is over. She wants to establish formal relations between Hyrule and Middle-Earth, so we'll see how it works out."

Link did some quick math in his head. "How long have I been unconscious?" He asked.

"About two weeks." Shepherd responded. "It was touch and go there for a while. You were pretty badly burnt and beat up after the explosion. We were lucky our field medics had good Hylian medicines with them. I think that was the only thing that pulled you through this."

"You could have left me in the hands of Sir Williams and taken your own men home to Earth." Link observed.

"We're not done here yet, and I don't leave any of my people behind." Shepherd responded. "Get some rest," he said, and then left Link to his thoughts.

It was another week before Link was well enough to travel again. In that time much had been accomplished, and the Hylian ambassador had been able to establish an embassy with Minas Tirith. The orcs had been hunted down and driven back into Mordor. King Eldarion was immensely grateful for everything the Hylians had done for them and offered every cooperation that he could.

Finally, more than a month after they had first set foot in Middle Earth, the seven companions linked back to the Temple of Time in Hyrule, where Impa awaited them.

"I see you accomplished your mission and survived." Impa said.

"Yeah. Now, if it's all the same to you, we'd like to go home." Shepherd said.

"Of course, but do you really want to return to the Earth of the present? When you've been gone for six years?" Impa asked.

"What do you mean?" McKay asked. "What other choice do we have since you stranded us here?"

"I told you before, twice, Doctor McKay. Travel through time is easy for this place." Impa remarked. With a wave of her hand, the gateway emerged from it's place in the floor and began to rotate. "Here," she handed a piece of paper to Shepherd, "give this to me on the other side. I'll know what to do from there."

"Okay..." Shepherd said. "That's just a little weird."

"Forget about it," said McKay, "let's just get home."

"So, I guess this is good-bye?" Shepherd turned to Link and held out his hand, which Link took. "You going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I think I am." Link said with a smile. "It was good to know you, Colonel Shepherd."

"And you, Link." Shepherd said. "If you ever need us, you know where to find us." He waved good-bye as the six men from Earth stepped into the watery image and disappeared.

They emerged out the other side immediately and thought something had gone wrong because it looked like they hadn't gone anywhere.

"Well?" Impa asked them.

"Uh, didn't we just...?" Shepherd asked, then he remembered the letter and handed it to her.

She opened it and read it carefully, then closed it again as her eyes went wide. "Extraordinary." She exclaimed. "I had hoped it would work, but I was never certain. Hylia's plans are often very risky. Please, follow me."

She led them up the stairs and into the library. She moved quickly to the bookshelf with the linking books and pulled a small volume from the shelf. She opened the book to the back panel. "Here we are. You and your men have my gratitude and the gratitude of all of Hyrule. It is a pity that we may not be seeing each other again for a long time. You must not attempt to return here for at least six years, otherwise everything that has been accomplished may be undone." Impa said.

Shepherd nodded, getting a headache from the implications of what she said.

McKay then spoke up with a sudden realization, "are you saying that Zelda planned this whole thing, to trap us here and use us? That ten year old kid, well she's ten right now, did this?"

Impa smiled impishly. "You can't play the game if you don't know the rules, doctor, now can you?"

"That's enough Rodney. Let's just go home." Shepherd said, stopping McKay in mid-sentence. They all clasped hands with each other as Shepherd touched the panel and whizzed back to the underground caverns of D'ni.

"Colonel Shepherd, please report to my office." Woolsey's voice rang out over Atlantis' intercom. It had been a week since the six men had returned. According to Daniel, whom they met in the ancient library upon their return, it had only been a day since they had left with Link. He was as surprised as anyone when they appeared in medieval armor carrying swords and shields instead of their standard issue weapons. Their debriefing back at Atlantis had been the stuff of legends.

Shepherd entered Woolsey's office, "yes?" he asked. His voice still carried something of a Hylian accent after so many years speaking their language. Someone remarked that it sounded like a strange mixture of Japanese and British English accents. Shepherd was working hard to get rid of it.

"Come in Colonel, have a seat." Woolsey said in as friendly a manner as he could. "Are you readjusting well?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm getting back into it okay. Truth is, I didn't do much different there than I do here." He said.

"That's good to hear. I hear doctor McKay has begun writing down some of the research into Hylian science and magic he studied while he was there. It should prove interesting." Woolsey said.

"That's great. Why'd you call me in here?" Shepherd asked.

"It seems that, in the last week or so, Nintendo, the makers of the Legend of Zelda series, which I'm certain you are intimately familiar with by now," Woolsey began.

"Yeah, intimately." Shepherd assented.

"It seems that they have released a new Zelda game. Dr. Lee first brought it to my attention a few days ago, and then the Pentagon became involved." Woolsey explained. "They wanted to know if we had a leak in our mission reports. I had to assure them in no uncertain terms that it was impossible. The details of your mission to Hyrule are known only to a very few people."

"What's in the game?" Shepherd asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

"Well, for starters, there are six new playable characters from a distant world who become stranded in Hyrule for six years and then have to take Link and battle the Demon King in a final battle in Middle Earth. Sound familiar?" Woolsey asked.

"You don't think I would've leaked classified information on a mission, do you?" Shepherd asked, taking offense.

"No, of course not. I know you better than that. Fortunately, a few phone calls were made to the company and they discovered that the game has been under development for the last six years. The air force has stepped in and discreetly asked the company to at least change a few of the names of the characters. They cited certain copyright violations. Nintendo has agreed to the changes and all seems well." Woolsey said. "I thought you might want to check it out."

Shepherd's head was spinning. "What's it called?"

Woolsey responded, "'The Legend of Zelda: Pathways of the Ancestors'."

The End


End file.
